


Tomorrow

by halfd3af



Series: The Chronicles of Orion [3]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Angst, Asexual Relationship, Existentialism, Fluff, M/M, Orion and Nick are both ace, Romance, cursing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-01-27 11:36:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21391507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfd3af/pseuds/halfd3af
Summary: After all the hardship of A Million Dreams Ago and the hopeful ending of One More Tomorrow, what’s in store for Orion Fitzgerald now? Happiness and fun times, and lots of it. Mostly. 👀
Relationships: Male Sole Survivor/Nick Valentine, Sole Survivor/Nick Valentine
Series: The Chronicles of Orion [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1427947
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	1. Village of the Damned

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter retells a bit of what happened in AMDA's final chapter, so content warning for stuff related to that!
> 
> Tomorrow is also the name of ANOTHER Frankie Carle song, it was in the second to last chapter of OMT!

When Nick asked if I wanted to help him with a disappearance case after spending two weeks at home with the kids, I was thrilled.

It was my first time seeing him since the party, and he definitely knew that I missed him after giving him a tight hug and kiss to the cheek.

Even though we had been able to chat over a terminal network during that time apart, I caught him up on all of the kids’ antics.

Halley was enamored with rainstorms, and it was a delight watching her play in the puddles. And with the help of agriculture books from the Institute, I was able to build a legitimate greenhouse for her cactus and new plant friends rather than the temporary one that Sturges had created.

The aster seeds that I had planted on the dozen graves in the neighborhood were thriving, and I planned to bury the rest of Ms. Rosa’s seed collection in the fall.

Shaun had built me a laser rifle with reusable ammo in the weeks that I had been gone, but I told him that it was his to keep. Excited, he immediately went back to the garage to create modifications.

Nick happily let me fill our walk to the northwest of Boston with my ramblings, and he only stopped me when we arrived at the Nakano residence.

After discovering where Kasumi had disappeared to, we embarked on the Nakano’s boat to find her in ‘Far Harbor’.

The observatory towered above the mist that blanketed the mountaintop. After watching Longfellow disappear into the dense fog below, it was just Nick and I underneath the setting sun. My prosthesis ached from the climb, and I tried not to let it show as I discreetly wiped sweat from my upper lip. _You can rest after you find Kasumi._

“_Acadia’s already been watchin’ us for a good spell. If you want to talk with them, just go inside. They’re waitin’ for you_” The old hunter’s words echo in my head as I turn my gaze back towards the large building. _Watching and waiting for us, huh?_

“You ready?” Nick asks, his words probing through my thoughts. I give him a smile. “Yeah, let’s see if anyone’s home” I joke, and he rolls his eyes before we make our way up the stairs.

After pulling open the large door leading inside, a dark corridor beckons us forward. A solitary mounted lamp that adorns the wall is the only source of light as we travel down the hallway._ It’s a good thing that Nick has more rods built into his retinas than mine... I’m practically blind compared to him._

The observation room was void of any synth presence. Rows of bulky scientific equipment, instruments, and control boards created a nearly complete border around the rotunda. But in the center of it all, an optical telescope dominated with it’s presence.

Unsurprisingly, I felt myself drawn to the large apparatus. _Astronomers used these to view the solar system! They saw all the stars in the night sky, and even distant galaxies!_ I could feel my heart soaring at the thought of using one.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Nick staring at me. With half-lidded yellow eyes and a small smile, his face was a perfect portrait of bemused affection.

I felt my cheeks grow hot after realizing that while staring at the telescope, my mouth had drooped open. “Don’t look at me like that...” I mutter, shooting him a pouting expression, and he chuckles.

Suddenly, his gaze looks past me with widening eyes. Confused, I turn around to discover that I had completely missed the person sitting in the shadow of the telescope.

They rise to their feet, and despite the raised platform beneath them, their height far overshadowed mine. It was a Gen-2 synth with a wide assortment of technology crammed into their skull, back, and upper arms. Their asymmetrical appearance demanded the attention of my eyes.

“You know, when I first climbed this mountain, above the fog, I thought to myself that _here_ was a metaphor worth taking in” They speak, and the softness of their voice surprises me. It was the mild tone of a parent talking to their child, not anything like the average Gen-2’s monotonous barking.

“You’ve entered a place of clarity, understanding, and peace. While you’re here in Acadia, synth-kind welcomes you... as long as you welcome us” They continue, and I step closer towards the synth when they finish.

“I... We came here looking for Kasumi Nakano” I state, but my mind isn’t solely focused on her. It drifts to the twins. _I hope they’re here too, like Deacon said._

“Really? I’m impressed” The synth replies, their eyebrows raising. “Few would brave the kind of journey you’ve had for the sake of someone else”. As they speak, they press their fingertips together in a movement that’s eerily familiar. _Where do I recognize that?_

“Kasumi is here. She’s safe and unharmed, and you’re free to see her, if you’d like” They assure me, and I’m relieved that the girl is okay. “Before you do, though, tell me: Do you think Kasumi is a synth?”.

Their question strikes a wave of doubt into my mind.

_Is she? I have no idea. _

_It wouldn’t be a bad thing if she was, but that would devastate her parents. _

_How does someone in the Commonwealth even find out if they’re a synth?_

_Since Gen-3’s don’t age, I imagine that she could have noticed a discrepancy in her body between birthdays..._

While I’m lost in thought, Nick decides to speak up. “We’re not answering any more questions until you play straight with us” He remarks, and our conversation partner’s jaw gapes open.

“Just who the hell are you, really? There’s only one synth with that kind of face and a mind of their own, and I only see him when I look in a mirror” Nick continues, and now the customized synth has taken a few steps towards us.

“Nick?! It... it can’t be you” They murmur, and I notice Nick’s body shift in agitation beside me. “Don’t give me that! What are you trying to pull? I’ve never seen you before in my life!” He rejects, and I feel trapped between the two synths. _Why are you always so quick to snap at people?_ _Nick, please don’t start an argument..._

“Please, if you’re willing to give me a chance, I can explain” The gentle giant replies, and my curiosity sparks with intrigue. They take a deep breath.

“Nick, we were prototypes. The first synths capable of independent thinking and judgment. The Institute wanted to experiment with how our brains could process personality” The synth explains, and as the conversation continues, I’m left stuck on a single word: personality.

_What’s with this déjà vu?_

“I was allowed to develop mine based on experience. But with you, they wanted to try transferring an entire personality into you”.

Finally, a lightbulb switches on in my head. “Persona!” I exclaim in a moment of eureka, and the heads of both synths snap towards me in recognition.

They also both speak simultaneously.

“What?” Nick gasps.

“How do you know the name of the experiment?” The other synth questions, their face curious.

“I... I read about it one time while I was in the Institute” I reveal, my stomach turning at the memory. Of reading what my son had done to me.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Nick demands, his body language doing little to hide his reignited infuriation as he grabs my shoulder.

“Uh, I... I couldn’t...” I stammer, my brain grinding to a halt as I catch a glimpse of the anger, hurt, and betrayal written on his face. All of the turmoil and pain he had experienced over the decades had risen to the surface yet again.

And as expected, there were no functioning breaks on his runaway train of self-hatred.

“Couldn’t what? You couldn’t tell me, despite having been aware of this for months? Especially when we were tracking down Eddie Winter?!” He yells, his skeletal metal fingers nearly piercing through my ballistic woven shirt sleeve. “Or did you forget all about it? Did you think it wasn’t that important to bring up?”.

“Nick...” The other synths says, their soothing voice providing a stark contrast to the gravely shouting.

”Tune out, would ya? I’m not talking to you!” Nick barks, turning his head to glare at them. The other synth simply shakes their head. With their eyes, they silently gesture towards me.

While Nick was distracted, tears had formed in my eyes. And now, they were freely streaking down my cheeks.

“You want to know _why_ I never told you? I found those files the day that the Institute was destroyed, as I was deactivating the safety protocols for the reactor. They weren’t by themselves though, they were in conjunction with files about ME” I disclose shakily, and I can see Nick’s fury immediately wavering.

_I didn’t want to think about this ever again. I didn't even want to have Tinker Tom give me the data he saved from the Institute, cause I knew Shaun's terminal entries would be included._

“My son admitted that I was a synthetic clone, that I was just an emotional experiment. When they were constructing my body, he looked through my memories” I continue more quietly, my heart hardly having the strength to go on.

“That’s what you meant at the party... You knew you were a synth all that time?” He mutters despondently, but I ignore him.

“Shaun found out that I didn’t identify as a woman. And when he did, he wrote down _every_ little bigoted thought in his head” I force out like vomit, and then the anger kicks in.

“Did you know that I was in a coma when the Institute found me, that I died there at some point? Did you know that the urn I took from the Institute held my _own ashes_?” I yell, fresh tears following the former. Nick’s at a complete loss as for what to say.

“Do you know what it’s like to hold your human remains in your own hands?” My voice now a tight whisper as I stare at the ground, remembering how light I felt.

“Orion... I’m-“ Nick tries to backpedal, but I cut him off after my anger surges back.

“No, _I’m_ sorry that I was a little selfish in wanting to _never_ remember that day ever again” I reply, and I storm out of the building, letting the door slam behind me.

After a realization that I was trapped on the mountaintop by the fast approaching twilight, having no idea how to get back to Far Harbor, I stomped up a nearby staircase to the roof.

A hastily built wooden structure stood to my left, and as I stopped to wipe the tears from my face, something catches my eye.

There was a maintenance ladder attached to the side of the dome, and I gravitated towards it immediately.

Without checking it’s integrity and with no hesitation, I began climbing. The rungs were surprisingly stable despite their age, only creaking slightly at intervals.

It was leading to a platform that provided access to the mechanisms responsible for exposing the telescope to the sky. Continuing my rash decision-making, I persisted in summiting the building through the use of a second ladder, ignoring the ache in my knee.

As I put more and more distance between myself and the ground, the better I started to feel._ I’m like a little kid climbing onto the roof of the house to stargaze._ I felt my anger fade away as the thought of the upcoming view filled me with excitement.

A breeze drifted past my face, bringing with it the earthy aroma of the outdoors, and I was reminded of the steadily warming temperatures._ If late spring weather is happening in only mid-April, I can’t imagine what the summers are like._

When I reached the scaffolding on the apex of the dome, I took a deep breath as I leaned my forearms against the railing. It held strong against my weight regardless of centuries-long exposure to the elements.

The sight of the mountainside being slowly eclipsed in shadow by the setting sun was spectacular. A few black cherry trees stood out among the vast sea of pine trees, their ghostly white blossoms adorning their branches like a layer of snow.

After watching the world grow dark for a while, and as the first stars of the evening appeared in the sky, I heard the sound of heavy footsteps climbing one of the ladders below me.

Eventually, Nick’s silhouette came into view as he carefully lifted himself up onto the scaffolding. Unsure of what to do, I heard as he awkwardly reclined against the railing behind us. And despite his efforts, it groaned under his weight.

The heavy silence that followed was broken only by the soft rustling of tree branches and bird song.

“The seasons will change, and humans will grow old. But synths? We’ll remain static, unchanging, stuck in time” I remark, not really directing the statement at Nick. “I was ready to live forever, but I wasn’t expecting to realize how much around me will _change_”.

I glance out at the stars.

“Halley will grow up, and if she has a family of her own, then there’s a possibility I might watch the Fitzgerald lineage continue on for decades, even centuries. And there I’ll be, an ageless specter, while my mortal descendants carry on like normal humans”.

“I don’t think the Institute was prepared for the responsibility of synths knowing these emotions, grappling with the knowledge that you will never die” I sigh, my words sinking into the air like rocks.

I turn around to face Nick, gazing into his glowing eyes. “At least I know someone who understands all this loneliness firsthand” I say, a small smile on my face._ And I don’t have to worry about turning 30.... yay._

He steps forward to stand beside me, his expression unreadable. “You know... I wouldn’t mind being by your side for the next few eternities” Nick admits awkwardly, his metal hand fidgeting on the railing as his eyes focus on the sky.

“Really?” I ask, my heart skipping at the idea.

“Really” He assures, turning to face me. Placing his right hand on my shoulder, his face grows a little more serious. “And I’m truly sorry about earlier. That was way out of line, and you didn’t deserve that”.

“It’s alright, and I forgive you, Nick” I reply lightly, and some tension finally leaves his shoulders. _He had an understandable but bad reaction._ Before I can say anything else, his eyes suddenly fall out of focus. “You’re cold” He states matter-of-factly.

“Not really” I reply, shaking my head. He rolls his eyes and smirks. “My thermoreceptors say otherwise” He shoots back, shrugging off his trench coat despite my protesting.

After he drapes the outerwear over my shoulders, his hands pause. I glance up, and Nick wears the same expression from that moment at the party two weeks ago. His yellow eyes remind me of a solar eclipse’s corona.

As his right hand finds its way to my chin in one short movement, his metallic touch ever so gentle, my heart pounds loudly in my ears. He leans in towards me, and holds this position for an agonizing amount of time. I almost forget to breathe.

“I think you easily outshine the brightest stars in the sky” Nick finally announces, and I realize that I’ve frozen once again under his golden stare.

And this time, _he_ makes the first move, raising my chin to plant a kiss on my lips. The sensation is as delicate as flower petals, but I’m still left dazed after he pulls away.

_I was wondering when he was going to finally kiss me back..._

“When we first started traveling together, my biometric scanning told me that you had an elevated heart rate, even when we weren’t in any danger” He states, his hand traveling from my chin to caress my cheek.

“I couldn’t make sense of it. I thought it was because of your son, yet it instead got worse following that whole ordeal”.

“But after you opened up about your true self, I noticed that you were a lot more relaxed. You were finally free after hiding two parts of yourself for so long” Nick continues, suddenly stepping even closer. His eyes are mere inches from mine.

“And now? Your heart only gets like that when you’re around me” He murmurs, cementing his lips against mine again. I have enough sense to kiss him back, his now exposed shirt collar becoming crumpled in my fist.

Under the glow of the stars, we stood there after our kiss, taking in each other’s presence. While I caught my breath, since it wasn’t something Nick had to be concerned with, he positioned his mouth next to my left ear.

“Want to hear an idea of mine?” He asks, his voice tickling the skin of the soft cartilage. “Of course” I answer back, failing to stifle a chuckle at the sensation.

“Would it be alright if I started calling you ‘starlight’ from time to time? I came up with it last week, but I wasn’t sure if you’d-“ Nick continues, leaning back, but a big hug from me stops him.

“It’s perfect, I love it!” is my reply, and I smile as the familiar fans in his chest kick on. _So Mr. Casanova isn’t sheepish when he leaves me speechless after a kiss, but a compliment from me brings his processor to it’s knees?_

“Does that mean I can give you one?” I request, reclining from the hug to look him in the face. “Only if you want to” He smiles, and I grin at the opportunity I have.

“Okay, moonlight” I respond coyly, and his confusion is immediate. “Moonlight?”.

“Your face is gray, and your eyes shine like the Moon” I explain, and it takes a second for him to think about it._ And even though they’re yellow like the sun, moonlight is a reflection of sunlight._ After a few seconds of contemplation, he grins.

“And _your_ eyes gleam like the stars, so I’d say we make a good team” Nick chuckles, before he glances down at my leg. I couldn’t suppress my body’s fatigue any longer, and my knee had begun to noticeably wobble on the prosthesis.

“I think we need to get you back inside. DiMA mentioned that they had a physician, among other things” He remarks, and my face grows puzzled. “DiMA? Is that the synth’s name?” I ask, and he nods.

“Before I came out here to find you, the two of us talked for a while, about our similarities... I still don’t know how to feel about him though” He elaborates with a sigh. “Can synths even be related? Just because we’re from the same assembly line, does that make us family?”.

_Well..._

“I consider Deacon and the twins to be my siblings, since they were programmed with aspects of my personality” I answer honestly, and his eyes go wide. “Your _what_?” He gasps, and I explain that last secret of mine.

Nick’s quiet for a few moments. “You and Deacon being brothers is just trouble waiting to happen” He mumbles, and I laugh as I think about the misuse of my wheelchair. “And twins? I guess DiMA and I weren’t the last pair to be created by the Institute”.

“Now, can we get off the roof before you collapse?” He asks, exasperation heavy in his voice as he motions towards the ladder. He takes my pack and rifle off my shoulders to carry before I make my way down.

When I reach the ladder closest to the bottom, my right knee buckles underneath my weight. My prosthesis loses it’s grip on the rung, and I nearly fall a dozen feet down to the ground. “Orion?” Nick calls out worriedly above me as I regain my footing.

“It’s fine!” I shout back, and I hurry to the bottom before something else happens. As we slowly make our way inside the observatory, leaning on Nick for support, I spot DiMA and a man conversing by the telescope.

“You were in the calibrator for a long time... are you feeling all right?” The stranger asks, and DiMA shakes his head. “I’m fine. You worry too much” He answers, and the man huffs in frustration.

“Sometimes I feel like you don’t worry enough. And do you know that we blew three more relays this week? Repairs were already difficult enough before all this recent nonsense with the Atom lunatics” They reply, their hands waving around for emphasis.

“They’re nothing you need to be concerned about. Their leader has already agreed to a compromise, so things should be just fine from now on” DiMA assures him, but the man makes another irritated grumble.

“Dearest Faraday, relax. All will be fine” DiMA tries again, and this time it works. Faraday lets out a sigh, and it looks like he has something to say before noticing the two of us.

“Uh, sorry to interrupt, but where’s the physician around here?” Nick inquires hesitantly, and the man’s gaze quickly flicks over the two of us.

“Aster? At this time of night, she’s probably working on her research in our laboratory down below” Faraday replies, his nasally voice somewhat dismissive.

“Are you all right?” DiMA chimes in, his face concerned, but I wave him off as we make our way towards the staircase. “Just having a little prosthesis fatigue” I reply. Out of the corner of my eye, Nick’s expression is written with skepticism.

At a snail’s pace, we descend down three flights of stairs, passing two floors bustling with synth activity. _We’ll look for Kasumi and the twins later._ We reach a level that’s exactly as Faraday described. It was no Institute laboratory, but it was still an impressive display of equipment and lab tables.

On the far side of the room, a woman sat in front of a console. “So you’re named after the star-shaped flower, huh?” I state loudly as Nick lowers me onto a nearby armchair, and my words finally cause her to acknowledge our presence.

“Yes, I’m personally rather fond of them. I find them beautiful” Her voice remarks softly as she turns around. When Aster notices my pained expression, her combat boots echo on the concrete floor as she hurries across the room.

“What seems to be the problem?” She asks, but I’m already rolling up my pant leg to deactivate the vacuum seal on my prosthetic foot.

After stripping off the first layer of bandages, I’m surprised with blood stains on the dressings directly covering my stump._ Shit._

“I’ll get some purified water” The woman says simply after taking in the sight, whipping around to search through a nearby cabinet. “I forgot about the blisters..” I mutter, and Nick glares at me.

“The _what_?” He demands, and I squirm under his scrutiny. “I got blisters on my stump after standing for days while building that greenhouse, and they hadn’t healed yet” I concede sheepishly, and he shakes his head in disappointment.

“You need to take better care of yourself” He chides, and I chuckle at his hypocrisy. “I could say the same about you” I remark, noticing that Aster has returned with her supplies.

She kneels in front of me, and I watch in anticipation as she wets the soft fabric with clean water. The sensation of the cloth against the ruptured blisters on my knee makes me wince in pain.

When my fingernails almost begin to pierce the worn fabric of the chair, Nick snatches up one of my hands in his own to hold. He gives it a gentle squeeze, and it helps take my mind off the wound cleaning. _At least Gen-3’s don’t have to worry about joint damage... but I do have to worry about the effects of friction on my stump’s skin._

“I imagine you’ve seen a good bit of our island. What do you think?” Aster asks softly, her hands gently rolling on a layer of bandages after applying a salve to my stump.

“It’s kind of beautiful, in it’s own way” I answer, thinking of the black cherry trees that shone in the moonlight despite the fog.

“That’s... refreshing. Most don’t view it the same, so I’m glad someone else can see it” She responds gratefully.

“This island, with all of its danger and beauty... it pre-dates you and I. The ecosystem isn’t what it once was, but it has adapted. And it will continue to adapt, long after we’re gone” The physician adds, her gaze turning contemplative.

Her hopeful words captivate me, reminding me of my musings on that night with Nick in the stadium seating of Diamond City.

“What’s important, really important in the long run, is understanding it. And then passing that knowledge along to those who will follow us”.

“Wow, Aster, I completely agree” I say, and her cheeks turn red at the compliment. “Well, thank you. I wish more shared the sentiment” She replies, finishing up the wrappings.

“You’ll probably want to stay off the prosthesis for a couple of days so the blisters can heal-“ The woman’s instructions being cut short by the sound of movement by the staircase.

“We collected some more flowers for your research, ma’am!” A woman’s voice says, and when I turn my head to see who it is, my jaw drops in shock.

Bella’s appearance had changed drastically over the past two months. Her face had softened and her short red hair had grown out to her shoulders. Next to her, Cardinal stood with identical changes. The only difference between the two of them was the color of their sweaters. _Did they see Dr. Jones too?_

“You two look so beautiful!” I cry out, lifting myself out of the chair as tears stain my cheeks in an instant. Aster moves out of the way as Nick offers his shoulder for support, and I wait for the twins to come to me. When they’re within striking distance, I ensnare them both in a hug.

“And you’ve gotten more handsome since we last saw you!” Cardinal remarks with a sniffle, and I can see both of them are crying just like me. “That’s some strong familial resemblance right there” Nick chuckles from behind us, and the girls look to me confused.

“What does he mean?” Bella asks, and I break out into a grin. “Well... I discovered that we’re basically siblings. And you know the man who helped you two escape? Deacon? He’s your other synth brother” I clarify, and their faces light up with excitement.

“Wait, _other_ synth brother?” Cardinal notices after a moment, and my grin widens. “I’m a synthetic clone of the original Orion! It really threw a wrench into my mess of a life” I joke and the twins glance at me with sympathy in their eyes.

“But it’s all fine. It just means I have all the time in the world to spend with my synth family!” I continue, tightening my hug. _And I’m so glad that all of us siblings were able to show our true selves._

“I finally fixed those damn leaky pipes in the ceiling!” Someone calls out from the staircase, and I look up at the sound. _Who can it be this time?_

“Am I interrupting something?” The girl says as she walks in, her hands wiping stains into her green jumpsuit.

“You remember how we got our names, right? He’s the one who gave them to us” Bella explains to her as we break up the hug.

“Oh, so you’re Orion! Bella’s told me a lot about you” She says animatedly, her lips breaking into a smile, as she continues with “I’m Kasumi, her uh... girlfriend”.

“You have a girlfriend? That’s awesome!” I shriek excitedly at Bella, ignoring the fact that it’s the missing person we’d been tracking as I hop up and down on my good foot.

That proves to be a mistake as I nearly lose my balance, but the twins grab me just in time.

“And actually, the main reason Nick and I are here was to find you, Kasumi” I say more calmly, and her eyes grow wide. “You came all this way... for me?” She gasps, and I nod.

“You left without telling your folks why. You must’ve known they’d be worried” Nick chips in, and the girl’s face sours.

“Look, my mom and dad.. I mean, those people taking care of me, they wouldn’t want me back. Not if they knew the truth” She murmurs, her eyes downcast.

Bella hurries to stand by her side, her hand moving in circles on Kasumi’s upper back in an act of comfort.

“That you’re a synth? What made you realize you were?” I ask softly, and she seems to take notice of my neutral phrasing. _I want her to know that I’m taking this seriously._

“Little things. From things like dreams of waking up in a lab, to being unable of remembering years of experiences from when I was a little kid. Not to mention how I started to feel like I never quite fit in back home...” Kasumi answers, and I can see her mentally sifting through the memories by the look on her face.

“Well, just because you might not be the _original_ Kasumi doesn’t mean you aren’t still _a_ Kasumi. I learned a few months ago that I’m a clone of the original Orion, and Nick’s struggled with two versions of himself for over a century” I assure her, pointing at the two of us for emphasis.

Her eyes widen at this. “But I can’t go back to them... how would that conversation even go? ‘Your real daughter is probably dead, and I replaced her’?” She sighs, and I hop forward so I can place my hand on her shoulder.

“You don’t have to tell them if you don’t want to, and I won’t force you to go back to your parents. I understand how hard realizing all this can be” I promise her, and she visibly relaxes.

“Maybe I could pass along a message that you fell in love, and you’re living with your girlfriend here. They should be able to understand that” I offer, and the look on the couple’s faces is identical shock. “Why didn’t we think of that?” Kasumi murmurs, and I chuckle.

_As her parents age, they’re bound to start having doubts when she isn’t aging with them. But she can tell them at a later time... we’re only looking for a short term solution right now._

“Now that we have that situation solved, what am I going to do for the next few days as my blisters heal?” I propose, and Bella’s excited face tells me that she has a suggestion.

“We’ll be viewing the Lyrids meteor shower tomorrow before sunrise! You should join us!” She advocates, and the opportunity sends a thrill down my spine. “I’d love that” I reply, grinning like an idiot, when Nick’s hand suddenly grasps my shoulder.

“So that means Orion should get some sleep, hmm?” He muses, and a turn of my head shows his yellow eyes peering down at me. “It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve gotten no sleep to watch the stars. I’ll be fine” I joke, reminiscing on the nights from my childhood spent on the roof of my house.

Without warning, Nick’s body shifts and I’m hoisted over his shoulder in an instant. “Hey! What are you doing?!” I cry out, unable to maneuver my legs out from under his iron grip. He also ignores the lighthearted pounding of my fists against his back as he goes to grab my prosthesis. _Stupid Gen-2 strength_.

“We’ll see you all in the morning!” He cheerfully informs the group of women, making his way towards the stairs. “Nick, you don’t have to carry me!” I snort, my backpack knocking against my side as he climbs the steps. “I know” He chuckles, and I finally laugh.

“When DiMA and I chatted earlier, I knew we’d have to stay the night. Upstairs, there’s a spare bed with your name written on it” He explains. “With the other synths, yeah? Then could you at least let me walk?” I try to persuade him as he reaches the next level. _It’s fine to embarrass me in front of people I know, but..._

“Alright, as much as I’d love to keep carrying you” He concedes, lowering my body to the ground. Nick’s face shifts into a smirk. “And I think you’ve gained some weight”.

“It’s all muscle, I’ll have you know” I shoot back, smacking his shoulder before leaning against it, and he throws me a teasing smile. “Sure, sure”.

A multitude of old office cubicles covered the floor space, and they’d been redesigned with sleeping in mind. Nameplates adorned the entrances for each makeshift room, and I spotted the twins’ names as we walked past. _I wonder how many synths here actually sleep. _The few occupants we did see were doing quiet activities such as reading or writing.

After entering an empty cubicle towards the end of the row, my hand clings to Nick’s arm as I sat down on the bed frame. Despite myself, I couldn’t hide my uneven breathing. Nick definitely noticed.

“Some rest would do you some good, ya know, seeing as how the hike up the mountain wore you down” He mutters, depositing my rifle and backpack on an old desk.

“But I wanted stay up and talk with the twins...” I say, my sigh turning into a yawn. He chuckles as he turns back around, taking a knee in front of me.

“Don’t worry. I’ll wake you up for the meteor shower, starlight” He murmurs, planting a kiss on my forehead, and I give up my protesting with an embarrassed blush.

The meteor shower was beautiful. DiMA and Faraday opened the observatory’s dome paneling to allow a spectacular view of the shooting stars, and I was able to point out a few spring constellations to the synths that had gathered in the room.

It turns out Bella wasn’t the only synth dating another synth. Cardinal introduced me to her girlfriend, Jenny, who I recalled as the same synth we saved from the Courser back in the Greenetech Genetics building.

And when DiMA formally introduced Faraday to me, he used the term ‘partner’. “Oh wait, Nick’s my partner too” I say in sudden realization, and Nick’s chest fans provide a response in his stunned silence.

“So you and I both have partners who refuse to take better care of themselves” Faraday remarks, his gaze scrutinizing both of the Gen-2 synths. That causes me to laugh, and Faraday manages to crack a smile as I do so.

Even though I was forbidden by Nick and Aster from leaving Acadia without my blisters being fully healed, I didn’t feel trapped like I did back after my foot was amputated. Instead, I relished the time that I spent catching up with the twins as we watched the night sky.

I felt at peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter originally started on the description of Acadia’s appearance, but I wanted some context to bridge the gap between OMT and this arc. I also wanted to show that Nick grew to become more forward with his feelings since OMT.
> 
> This chapter is also the beginning of a lot of fluffy romance stuff, and it's my first time having that dominate a chapter, so bear with me as I learn to get better with writing it! lol
> 
> Nick never asked for clarification on Orion’s admission of “hey I’m Institute trash just like you” in OMT cause he was too overwhelmed with lovey-dovey thoughts about Orion lol
> 
> Nick’s chest fans sound like an overheating laptop btw, very cute
> 
> Did you know DiMA never actually introduces himself until superrrrr late in the first conversation with him? That’s why I was vague about him for that portion of the chapter
> 
> There’s a black cherry tree in my front yard, and growing up, I always thought that they looked beautiful on spring nights, with their white flowers providing a stark contrast against the night sky
> 
> Orion’s convo with Nick under the stars in Out of the Past was about mortality with regards to death and moving past it, thinking like a human would, appreciating the small things like friendship; now, Orion talks about how he gets to experience so MUCH while being a synth now, thinking of the synth perspective of living forever
> 
> Orion initiated PDA with Nick twice, now it was Nick’s turn to do it lol
> 
> I love my trans lesbian daughters having girlfriends <3
> 
> The Children of Atom managed to chill out without help from Orion, cause I didn't feel like writing about that and also, it's just more.. nice? Let Orion not have to fix any conflicts, pls
> 
> And lastly, BETHANY ESDA, HOW DO YOU EXPECT PEOPLE TO BE LIVING IN ACADIA??? It's a shithole! I found out that a lot of observatories have offices and stuff, so those would be perfect for turning into rooms for all the synths living there! I like to think that below the observation room, there are two floors of office space and then a basement, where the lab stuff is.


	2. The Blacksmith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn, a lot has happened since my last update. Sorry for the long wait and that it’s such a short chapter! It took me a long time to figure out how to write the dialogue for this; hope you enjoy some rare third person perspective for once!

“Another story, eh?” Nick drawls, and the two children seated on the floor in front of him nod eagerly with excitement.

“Hey now, I think it’s _my_ turn to tell my nephew and grand-niece an epic tale filled with adventure and danger?” Deacon cuts in from the armchair a few feet away, his lips parting to reveal a grin. The detective can’t help but smile too.

“Sure, knock yourself out. I’m curious to see how you’ll top that last yarn about those men thinking I was rigged to explode” Nick challenges, his eyes flashing with amusement.

“Ohoho, I think this will be a story for the ages! It’s about time these rascals learn some history about a certain red-headed family member of theirs” Deacon laughs, slouching forward to rest his hands on his knees.

“Grunkle Dee, do you mean RiRi?” Halley inquires, and his finger boops her on the nose in response. “You are correct, flower girl!” He replies, delighting in the giggles that followed.

“When the Commonwealth’s savior thawed from the frozen clutches of Vault 111, his mind was only focused on two things: revenge for the murder of his husband and finding their stolen child!” Deacon begins energetically, but he’s interrupted by a question.

“Wait, what do you mean ‘thawed’?” Shaun’s eyes widening. “Didn’t you know your dad was stuck in a freezer for over 200 years?” Deacon responds, and Halley adds gleefully, “Yeah, he’s a dinosaur!”.

That earns a chuckle from Nick as Deacon continues his eager storytelling. “When he left on his journey, he ended up rescuing the Minutemen from a band of Raiders and a 10 foot tall Deathclaw... using _only_ a tire iron!” He reveals, emphasizing that last part with a dramatic whisper, and this earns gasps from the two children.

“He didn’t use a gun?! But Mama Murphy said that Deathclaws are the most dangerous things in the Commonwealth!” Shaun says, his jaw dropping. “And? You think your father let that stop him?” Deacon grins.

“He marched onwards to Diamond City, because not even a Deathclaw could stand in his way! And when he arrived, he helped yet another person... the Commonwealth’s most famous reporter, my dear friend Piper Wright!” He exclaims loudly, and the sound of the front door lurching inwards turned the heads of the two children a complete 180 degrees.

“Speaking of the devil... there she is!” He adds, Piper taking a dramatic bow at his words as she crosses the threshold.

An excited Nat maneuvers around her to sit next to Shaun on the floor, where they exchange a flurry of words in greeting. The two had only met once before, but they had become close friends quickly nonetheless.

“How did RiRi help you get inside Diamond City?” Halley asks, and Piper’s face lights up with mischief. “Oh, he never told you? He carried me on his back and climbed over the city’s walls!” She exclaims, and Nat rolls her eyes at the exaggeration while Nick lets out a snort.

“He went straight to Valentine’s Detective Agency... only to find that the city’s private investigator had been missing for two weeks!” Deacon pipes up, wrangling the narrative back into his control. Though by the grin that he slyly gave Piper as he fidgeted with his ginger hair, he hadn’t minded his friend’s input.

“When he went in search of DC’s beloved detective, down into the bowels of yet another Vault, he was confronted with the members of yet another gang... the Triggermen” He continues, flourishing his fingers for dramatic effect. “He clashed singlehandedly against fifty men with only his trusty set of knives!”.

“Hey pal, you’ve got it all wrong. It was actually a HUNDRED men that my partner fought off singlehandedly” Nick corrects him nonchalantly, earning a hearty laugh from the Railroad agent.

“And when he rescued Valentine from the clutches of the Triggermen, the Commonwealth’s soon-to-be dynamite duo set off to find Shaun’s kidnapper!” Deacon carries on.

“They had determined that Conrad Kellogg, scourge of the Commonwealth, was the man they were after. With the help of Dogmeat, they tracked him down to an old Pre-War bunker outside of the city”.

Shaun’s face sharpens into a frown. “Kellogg killed my dad? I hate him!” He huffs angrily, and Deacon nods sympathetically. “We all did. That’s why we had to invite Orion into the Railroad’s desperate arms when we heard that he had been slain!”.

“With our combined efforts, we were able to discover that Shaun was in the Institute! But he wasn’t a kid anymore... he was now an old man, the leader of the very same people that stole him from his father’s arms-“ His compulsion for theatrics dooms the once-happy atmosphere before he can realize his mistake.

The intrigue on Shaun’s face is completely wiped away, and it’s shifted into a worryingly empty canvas as his body tenses. Nick instantly recognizes it as the same expression that Orion wore when they watched the destruction of the Institute from afar.

Before he can say anything, a hoarse whisper escapes the young boy’s lips. “Am I.... a synth?” Shaun asks quietly to no one in particular, gazing at his hands, and the only sound is of the crickets chirping outside.

Nick doesn’t waste a second. “Being a synth ain’t all that bad. It’s almost like you’re invincible” He assures lightheartedly, but his eyes betray his concern.

“Yeah, and you know what? We were actually getting to a very important part of the story. I don’t think you knew that your dad is a synth, huh?” Deacon follows, and there’s several gasps from his audience.

“He is?!” Piper’s jaw drops.

“That’s so cool!” Halley squeals, either oblivious to the implications or disregarding them, but the stiffness in Shaun’s shoulders fades at her acceptance.

“Well, now I know _three_ cool synths” Nat chimes in with a glance at Nick and Shaun, her support creating a smile on the boy’s face.

“Hey! What about me?” Deacon whines, and Nat rolls her eyes. “You’re nowhere near as cool as someone like Orion” She says, Deacon’s body contorting into an overdramatic imitation of pain while Piper bursts into laugher and Nick smiles.

After removing an imaginary blade from his chest, Deacon attempts to compose himself once more. “Continuing with the chronicles of Orion...” He says, his audience letting him take the spotlight once more.

“He wanted to know who was responsible for the kidnapping of his son. After some investigating, he discovered a very elusive person inside the Institute, so elusive that hardly anyone even knew about him... a doctor named Victor Stein”.

Shaun and Nat exchange shocked glances at the revealed information. “Who is he?” Halley questions, falling for the lie.

“Dr. Stein wanted to take over the world, and that’s why he originally made synths! He used Orion as an experiment, inserting a clone of himself in the Vault to see what would happen” Deacon elaborates, and Shaun gasps.

“That’s horrible!” Shaun exclaims, and Nat nods her head in agreement. “Yup, and that’s exactly why Orion had to put a stop to his plans. But in order to do that, it would require destroying the Institute” He says, pushing his sunglasses higher on the bridge of his nose as a means of drawing out the tension.

“Dr. Stein was building nuclear weapons that were as destructive as the ones that wreaked havoc over 200 years ago!” He whispers in a haunting voice, and all the children gasp. “Orion had to put a stop to the nefarious scientist’s schemes, and that’s why the Institute is no more!”.

“So that’s why it was blown up? What about all the residents?” Shaun asks with curious eyes, and Nick’s gaze shifts nervously to Deacon. “They were moved someplace safe, far away from the Commonwealth” He answers, and Nick breathes a silent sigh of relief. They hadn’t seen many Institute survivors in the past few months, so they were either all in hiding or...

“But that wasn’t the end of Orion’s heroics, oh no, far from it! Nick needed assistance with an important case of his” Deacon continues more joyfully, not wanting to linger on the subject of the Institute.

“They traveled far and wide, searching for the clues that would lead them to a secret bunker somewhere in the Commonwealth. But naturally, nothing would stand in the way of the number one synth detective and the indomitable synth hero of the millennium!”.

“‘Indomitable synth hero’, huh?” A voice rings out, and everyone in the room looks towards the source. Orion is standing in the doorway, an amused and lopsided grin on his face.

“The one and only!” Deacon yells, and Orion’s smile only grows larger. “Ignoring your unnecessary praise, I think it’s finally time for Shaun to see his birthday present” He responds, and the young boy on the floor gasps.

“Today’s my birthday?! What did you get me?” Shaun demands excitedly, rocketing up off the floor. “Why don’t you go and see?” His father responds, and the kid dashes past him as quick as he can.

The early summer evening welcomed the party outside with it’s pleasant temperature and gentle breeze. Happy squealing filled the air as Shaun discovered what Orion had spent half a month working on in secret: a specialized suit of Power Armor.

“Your words exactly: ‘It’s too bad they don’t make Power Armor I can wear. It looks super fun!’” Orion says, his deep tone increasing in pitch to mimic his son’s voice.

“I love it! Thank you so much, Dad!” Shaun cries out, his body slamming into Orion’s torso for a hug. His father’s arms can barely reach around him in reciprocation before Shaun launches himself towards the unique suit of armor.

As the group of adults and children alike delighted and marveled at Shaun’s gift, which he showed off eagerly, something went unnoticed. Unbeknownst to them, a silhouette was hiding inside the shadows cast from a nearby house, their body as still as stone.

Watching, waiting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 👀


	3. The Public Enemy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think my word count for this arc is gonna be kinda low because of how much detail I’m able to cram into as few words as possible lol, which irks me because it makes me feel like I’m writing “less”

The knock on the bedroom door nearly caused the syringe between my fingers to pierce the skin too soon. I turn my head to see Nick peering through the open door. 

“Uh, starlight, have you seen- Oh!” Nick’s face turning sharply away as he notices what I’m doing. I chuckle at his sheepishness at seeing my exposed gluteal muscle.

“I’m just doing my last shot... you can watch, if you want” I remark with an amused smirk, and he slowly casts an embarrassed yet curious glance my way. Steadying my arm, I plunge the needle through the muscle of my right glute.

After removing it and applying pressure with a clean cloth to the injection site, Nick speaks up again. “You had to do that every week? I’m fine with being poked and prodded by Dr. Amari every so often but...” He murmurs, his head shaking in disbelief.

I laugh. “Well, now I’m finally done with them. At least I’ve never had to worry about infections, being a synth and all” I reply, pulling up the waistband of my jeans. “Now, what were you asking me about?”.

“Well, Sturges was just wondering if you’d seen Shaun around. They were supposed to meet at the Red Rocket 20 minutes ago, but no one has seen the kid” Nick continues, and I try to suppress the wave of adrenaline that floods into my brain.

“Let’s check around the house...”

Nope.

“Is he down by the creek?”.

He isn’t.

“Maybe he’s with Mama Murphy!”.

He wasn’t.

“Did he leave Sanctuary?”

He couldn’t, he WOULDN’T. He knows not to go out alone.

Minutes passed into hours as we scoured the countryside for him. When the sun had begun descending towards the horizon, we found something.

One of Shaun’s shoes, sitting alone on the platform leading into Vault 111.

I frantically scooped it up, hoping that I wouldn’t find the rest of his body mangled to shreds somewhere, and a note peeked out from it’s temporary resting place inside the shoe.

Unfolding the yellowed and torn paper, there was a message written in pencil. His shoe dropped to the ground as I clutched at the note with both hands, reading it over and over.

_ “Are you going to find that abomination you call your son? You have all the time in the world to run around the Commonwealth like a headless radstag... and I’m going to enjoy it”. _

I don’t hear Nick call my name, but I do notice as he gently takes the paper from me to read for himself. “Starlight...” He murmurs, and it takes me a moment to realize that he’s wiping tears off my face.

“Look at me. We are going to find him, alright?” Nick assures me, and I stare into the glow of his yellow eyes as I feel my thoughts evaporating into mist.  _ I can’t do this again._

“First, I reckon we oughta swing by Piper’s. We’ll get some papers circulating with his description plastered all over it...” He continues, his voice like white noise. My attempts to concentrate on his words fail miserably, but I let him guide me towards Sanctuary nonetheless.

“Piper! Just the reporter we were looking for” Nick says as we walk down the entryway into the city. 

But she seems distracted, and she hardly glances our way. She rushes towards a large crowd gathering on one side of the marketplace, and Nick exchanges a curious look with me before we follow after her.

I quickly realized with dawning horror that they were all standing in front of my house in the city, and I raced forward with anxiety coursing through me like lightning.

As I got closer, pockets of citizens shuffled silently aside to let me through, to see what they were seeing.

After Shaun’s birthday, Piper had interviewed me for the newspaper she ran, asking how my life had been before and after the Vault. 

About what lay ahead for me, now that I’d found my son and established myself as an engineer for hire.

How the gossip of Nick and I’s kiss had spread like wildfire after the party, and with my blessing, letting her confirm for all her readers in the Commonwealth that we were in fact dating.

Those very same newspapers, with a photograph she had taken of my face, were plastered all over the front of the building. In large writing that angrily slashed it’s way across the thin material, was this:

_ “This vile queer that you all trust? It’s a synth. A filthy and disgusting synth, traipsing around with an even more horrid-looking android. They have no true understanding of “love”, it is something completely beyond the realm of their programming. They are nothing but insignificant pieces of plastic masquerading in a human form. Have you all gone mad?”. _

Instead of sinking into despair, the writer’s eerily familiar feelings were a catalyst for an inferno of wrath. 

My fingers are clawing at the paper with reckless abandon, and I’m encouraged by the sound of ripping and tearing. I feel pain prick at my fingertips as my skin catches on splinters from the coarse wood underneath.

“We’ll find out who did this-“ I hear Nick’s voice crackle behind me, but I cut him off as I whip around to face him.

“Oh, don’t worry. I know _exactly_ who did this” I reply curtly, the pieces of newspaper becoming increasingly crushed in my fists. I see Piper glance at me with intrigue, whereas the people around her murmur uneasily.

The light-hearted jokes and mischievous smiles that had been cast my way since getting together with Nick were not present on their faces today.

“You do?” His face lights up with surprise.

“The same bastard who yelled at my twin sisters, who I fought with in the cafeteria of the Institute, and who has taken my son” I reply, the volume of my voice rising with each passing second until I’m yelling. The crowd’s whispering stops like an extinguished flame.

“I’m going to find Shaun, and to make sure that the walking shitstain of a man named Elon Ayo doesn’t live another day” I declare.

Nick isn’t stunned by my bold words, it’s not his first time seeing me boiling with anger. “Do you think someone’s helping him?” He asks, his investigative skills never a step behind as he walks towards me.

I take a moment to think, making an attempt to reel in my emotions so that I don’t encourage any new gossip about how I’m a “rogue and unstable synth”.

“He might have Coursers, seeing as his father helped oversee them...” I say more quietly, and Nick sighs.

“But I doubt they’ll be any trouble for me, seeing as how we handled that one in the Greenetech building” I continue, a wry smile forming.

“You’re wanting to blast this knucklehead all by yourself?” Nick replies, reading between the lines. “You practically have a whole army at your disposal, you know” He adds with a sour chuckle.

I shake my head. “His anger is towards me, not you. This... it’s more personal than what happened with Kellogg, Nick, it’s hard to describe” I try to explain, knowing that he most likely wouldn’t understand what it’s like for someone to hate you based purely on your existence.

“People have hated me for a whole host of reasons, starlight. I get it” He murmurs, making me smack my forehead internally for presuming. He grabs my left hand to hold between his.

“But I’m still going to tag along, just in case things go south” Nick adds, and I sigh in amused agreement.

“Let’s go find my son again”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have nothing to say except 👀👀👀👀


	4. Indestructible Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for like, a million different things: bodily harm, blood, transphobia, homophobia, and violence!
> 
> Despite all that, I’ve been planning this chapter since I had first created A Million Dreams Ago and Elon last summer!

“If no one’s in there, I’ll be out in 30” I reaffirm the plan to Nick, whose eyebrows are still knitted with concern. However, Deacon rests a hand on the man’s shoulder from behind.

“Don’t worry, detective. Your boyfriend can handle himself just fine” He grins, his ginger hair ruffled from the summer breeze. Nick grumbles underneath his breath, and I attempt to reassure him with a kiss on the cheek. He sighs.

“I know my way around the campus, since this is my alma mater and all” I joke, my hand gesturing to the ruined white buildings behind us as I begin walking towards them. 

Passing underneath the threshold of the skeletal marble entrance for what once led to the engineering department, I tread carefully into a musty common area.

The door had been knocked off it’s hinges and the chairs were destroyed chunks of fabric on the floor, most likely due to Super Mutants. And speaking of the large hulking creatures, I encountered nothing but the ghosts of my collegiate memories as I crept through countless hallways and staircases.

_This place is usually crawling with a pack or two of them..._

I’m quickly overwhelmed by dozens of little recollections spread all over the building. I pass by the classroom where I spent hours learning under my favorite professor, Dr. Nye, and the laboratory where I worked on countless mechanical projects. 

The student lounge where Robert would wait for me after exams was unsurprisingly desolate, ruined. It felt like he had never even been in this room, being in such a destroyed state. Even a ghost wouldn’t roam here.

Eventually, I’m standing in front of my program’s graduation tradition: several walls embedded with nails of all varieties, tiny initials carved into their heads. 

And without much effort, I find mine. A small shingle nail that I saved from my childhood home inscribed with the initials “AW”.

An agonizing screech disrupts the nostalgic silence of the hallway, forcing my hands over my ears. 

“Ah, the transexual has arrived!” A voice says, the sound echoing throughout the building from an intercom system. My fingers are curled into tight fists in an instant.

“As much as I had looked forward to watching you despair for potentially days on end, I’m not a patient man” Elon comments, his voice dripping with satisfied malice. I use my anger to propel me towards one of the nearby stairwells.

_If he’s speaking over the old intercom system, he’s probably in the Dean’s office on the fifth floor..._

Taking the steps two at a time skyrockets my already swift heart rate, and I have to endure Elon’s insidious taunting as I make my way up the flights of stairs.

“I wish I could have seen the look on your face when you learned the truth about your son... it must have been filled with such despair!” His words are as sweet as poison, and I glare at a security camera positioned in the corner as I open the door to the fifth floor.

I barely make it through the doorway when I feel my boot trip against something.  _Oh no_.

Flashes of bright blue blind me as a Tesla coil trap is activated. 

I feel a sharp burning sensation as the electricity arcs it’s way to the metal in my prosthesis, the knives hidden in my bracers, and the pistol tucked into my waistband. They all  conducted the voltage like miniature lightning rods.

Elon’s cruel laughter is immediate. “I thought that would be a nice surprise for a pathetic cripple like you!” He cackles, and my muscles violently spasm as they launch me a few feet away onto the ground.

I lay there immobile for several minutes as my numb body blossoms with countless sensations of pins and needles.

I don’t even want to think about the potential burns on my stump, forearms, or back from the metal touching my body.  _ Hopefully my boot helped absorb some of that..._

_Now... you gotta get up, c’mon!_

Letting out a shaky breath, I slowly raise myself off the floor with both hands. When I manage to stop my heart from thumping irregularly and my head from spinning, I get to my feet.

I don’t even bother looking to see if I have burns; I have no time to waste on feeling pain. 

_ Please let him be alright. _

My both metaphorical and physical tunnel-vision regarding Shaun helps with my fast advancement to the Dean’s office at the other end of the floor. And instead of using my hands to open the wooden doors, I use my boot to kick it open.

Laughter erupts from inside as I step into the office. “You... you look like a fucking burnt Radroach!” He cackles, struggling to breathe in his seat behind a large office desk. 

Behind him, tied to an old chair with duct tape pressed against his mouth, is Shaun. The nearby window highlighted how his blue eyes were beyond terrified underneath his disheveled blonde hair.

Anger pulses through me, and I rush towards him instinctively, assuming that Elon is distracted. But the young man snaps his fingers, and I hear the sound of a large knife being unsheathed. I turn my head to the right as I watch X6-88 aim a swipe at my face.

“Not so fast, faggot! You thought that electric trap was the only thing standing in the way of saving your son?” Elon remarks gleefully as I duck to avoid a slash to the eye.

The Courser gives me no time to retrieve my pistol from my waistband as he whips his left hand forward with incredible speed.  _ A true knife fight it is then.  _

The metal that had possibly burned into my forearms had also once burned into the palms of my hands. I had crafted these two particular knives out of the barrel of the pistol that had killed Robert.

With a specific twist of my wrists, the mechanism that contained them activated and they slung forward as I jabbed one hand forwards at the man.

His face was as solid as the marble this building was constructed from, for he showed no sign of alarm at my secret weapons.

“The Coursers got new training after you killed the one to get his chip... Can you guess what skills they learned?” I hear Elon sneer as X6 targets a strike to my shoulder. It finds it’s mark, but the superficial scratch will hurt more later than it does now.

Thankfully, as he does this, he overextends, and I manage to lacerate his cheek in retaliation. A thin droplet of blood drips down his dark skin, and his poker-face nearly breaks as I watch the corner of his mouth curl.

_Good, get angry. That’ll make you sloppy_.

But that just wasn’t my luck. He somehow picked up in speed, throwing a flurry of relentless attacks that I had to block with the tops of my bracers. 

For what felt like eons, we were caught in a vicious dance of jabbing and blocking. With him ceaselessly directing his knife towards me, I had no choice but to be on the defensive the majority of the time. And all the while, Elon watched like a bloodthirsty Colosseum spectator.

Sometimes, I would see an opening to retaliate a blow, but my decision to do so would almost always land me with another slice to the chest. He refused to let my knives touch him ever again.

My muscles were screaming with exhaustion from the intensity of our sparring and from the earlier shocking, so my arm was too slow to react for a block.

He took advantage of this, and focused his blade towards my exposed neck.

Without thinking, I raised the underside of my bracer to protect myself. The force of the blow knocked the knife off the flight groove, and I could only watch as he gripped my now exposed left wrist with astounding force.

He snapped it like a matchstick, and I immediately cried out in pain. When my knees buckled out from under me, he allowed me to fall to the ground. 

Suddenly, the sound of a fist slamming onto wood boomed throughout the room like a judge’s gavel.

“Did I say you could stop, you stupid machine? I’ve waited for this day for three months... so do you want to be deactivated as punishment for disobeying me?” I hear Elon yell as my vision swirls with phosphenes.

A pair of feet stomp across the carpet-covered floor. “He is incapacitated, sir, it would be unnecessary to-“ X6 rebukes neutrally but he’s cut off.

“Give me that!” Elon snarls, and I feel the sole of his shoe smash into the fingers of my left hand. “That’s for the Institute!” He yells, and my teeth clench to hold in a scream.

His foot tramples my hand once again, and he adds in an extra stomp to the center of my face, his heel slamming into my eye. I feel blood spurt from my nose like a busted water balloon. “That’s for ruining humanity’s best hope for the future!” He declares, and I suddenly feel myself lifted into the air.

Delirium from the pain makes it hard to focus, but I see his face etched with inexplicable fury. “And this? It’s for betraying Father” He mutters, and I take several kicks to the gut.

“Sir...” X6 states hesitantly, but Elon doesn’t seem to hear him. 

I’m shoved to the ground, and my left arm is pinned out to my side. With a quick motion, he brings X6’s knife down onto my wrist. It doesn’t make it cleanly through, but Elon disregards that as he then pierces my entire hand like a pincushion. 

I can’t even scream, the sound is trapped inside my throat.

“I want to show you how helpless I felt watching the life leave my father’s eyes after he was shot by a Railroad agent... I’m going to make sure you can only watch as I hurt your son right in front of you!“ He barks, his mouth pulled tight in a maniacal grin.

The pain is overwhelming, but I somehow find the spare adrenaline to shove my other knife into his chest while he concentrates on mutilating my left hand. _You won’t lay another finger on him!_

He stops moving, his body rigid with shock, and I push him off with a kick to the abdomen.

“You think you can stop me, ‘the savior of the Commonwealth’? Think again, _Institute trash_” I exclaim, not sounding as strong as I had hoped due to exhaustion, but I manage to spit blood onto his face as he clutches at the knife wound.

“Hey, X?” I say to the Courser, whose already tense body flinches at my question. He looks at me with explicit surprise, despite the sunglasses hiding much of his face.

“Could you finish him off for me? I need to help my son” I request with a lopsided smile, aware of the sorry state of my face, and now he actually raises his eyebrows.

“Um, with pleasure... sir” He agrees, quite awkwardly. I retrieve the pistol from my waistband and hold it out to him grip-first. He takes it hesitantly.

”Just Orion is fine”.

As I stumble my way over to where a crying Shaun sits in the corner, X6 makes his way towards Elon.

“What... what are you doing? Get away from me, you wretched synth!” The fear tangible in his voice as he yells at the approaching synth.

When I finally reach Shaun, I press his head against my chest and cover his other ear with my good hand to prevent him from witnessing the resulting gunshots.  _ He’s seen enough violence to last a lifetime._

Turning my head, I see X6 walking toward us after the silence has lasted long enough. After he wordlessly hands me my knife, I use it to cut through the restraints binding Shaun.

After gently and slowly removing the duct tape from his mouth, his tears begin anew and he buries his face in my chest as he grasps me in a desperate hug.

The fingers on my good hand tease through his hair as I let him cling to me. “It’s going to be okay now, I promise” I whisper, and he only cries harder.

I’m so focused on Shaun that I hardly mind as X6 uses one of the rope scraps as a makeshift tourniquet for my arm. It’s not as if I could put one on by myself, and I sensed that he was desperate for a task to focus on.

When he finishes, he gazes at the sorry remains of what was once my left hand. “I hope you realize that it will most likely have to be amputated, as the damage is far too extensive to be-“ X6 states, but I stop him with a wave of my hand.

“I know, it’s okay” I say softly, continuing to stroke the back of Shaun’s head as his crying eases.

“I... I just don’t understand, why you would go through all this... for him” He continues softly, and I turn towards him.

The man has removed his glasses, and I’m surprised by the steely blue eyes that had hid behind them all this time. They stare heavily into mine, waiting for an answer.

_I already felt as though losing my right foot was karmic justice for what I did to the Institute, so I don’t see the loss of my left hand as any different. I can be at peace with these consequences._

“Just because we’re synths, that doesn’t mean we can’t be human” I respond instead, my voice coming out hoarser than I’d like. “You’re more of a human being than Elon ever was, seeing as how you didn’t continue pummeling me after I was down”.

“I had thought mercy in the Commonwealth was dead” I finish, letting out a hearty laugh despite the pain that sparks in my chest.

He surprises me by chuckling at this. 

“Well, I must admit you were quite skilled, even for me” He replies, actually making an attempt at humor. “It seemed rather cruel for me to continue”.

“I think that statement right there earns you a name” I declare, and his eyebrows furrow in confusion. 

“Since you have the makings of a true human being, why not have a go at it? You’ve already got a good head start on it... Xander” I elaborate, hoping the name is good enough considering the low number of choices that begin with X, and an unspeakable emotion dawns on his face.

“Xander...” He breathes quietly, as if he’s testing the name out. He sits there for a moment, contemplating. _Names are extremely important for a person, I would know._

While he does so, I notice that Shaun has fallen asleep due to pure exhaustion. Taking that as a cue for us to leave, I try to lift him onto my back.

I fail miserably to even pick him off the ground. I glance at the man sitting next to me. “Will you help me get my son out of this place?” I ask, and he looks up at me.

I hold out my hand, as more than just an offer to help pull him to his feet.

To my delight, he takes it. He gently takes Shaun into his arms and lays him over his shoulder. The young boy hardly stirs at the movement.

“Let’s blow this joint” I state jovially, ignoring the great effort that it takes to put one foot in front of the other. 

I hadn’t brought my Pip-Boy with me, so I had no clue how much time had passed after we slowly descended the flights of stairs down to the main floor.

Nick and Deacon are immediately on edge when they spot the three of us. I take the man’s free hand into my own, and raise it above our heads, or try to, seeing as to how he was several inches taller than me.

“This is Xander, he’s with us!” I yell out as they scramble towards us, and I take a peek at the former Courser’s face to see a small smile.

As Nick reaches me, I collapse into his arms as my body tries to shutdown after the last of my adrenaline runs out.

He tries to say something to me, but instead, I turn to look at Deacon. “We got ourselves a new friend here, so get him some new clothes that don’t instantly scream “I’ll kill you”, okay?” I ask, and the man’s face lights up with excitement despite himself.

“You got it, boss” He accepts with a grin, and I allow myself to close my eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, NO MORE ANGST, IT’S DONE AND ONLY SWEET THINGS ARE AHEAD LMAO
> 
> Dr. Nye is a reference to You Know Who, since Bill Nye actually has a degree in engineering!
> 
> I put A LOT of foreshadowing to Orion losing his hand in this 👀 like using the word “handle” or drawing attention to his hands in general
> 
> Me: how is Orion gonna efficiently remove his knives from his pockets for combat scenarios? he’s wearing a t-shirt...  
Me, five seconds later: ASSASSIN’S CREED HIDDEN BLADES
> 
> Also, the “using the gun that killed my husband as weapons” is a reference to Batman, as he used the gun that killed his parents to protect his heart as the first “batman symbol” on his suit
> 
> X6 is friendshaped uwu
> 
> When I was planning the scene where he turns on Elon, he was originally going to mention the other Courser that Elon had snagged from the Institute. The two of em cleared out Super Mutants and this other Courser took a fatal blow to save Elon from harm. Elon barely gave it any thought and X6 grew resentful of him from that point on.
> 
> He basically pulled a “Darth Vader throws Palpatine into the abyss” lmao


	5. Good News

After the surgery, Nick was right there at my bedside, holding my good hand. Still groggy from the anesthesia, I joked that Dr. Sun had now stolen even more of my “precious bones”.

He shook his head in faux disappointment at my awful joke, a smile hiding where he thought I couldn’t see it. “Has that your brawn of yours finally rotted your brain?” He jokes, eyeing the muscular biceps and deltoids that I took great pride in.

Flexing them to further the joke only managed to cause a twinge of pain in the muscles that formerly connected to my left hand. “Idiot.. you just had surgery, remember?” Nick murmurs, giving my right hand a squeeze.

Holding up my bandaged left arm to the ceiling for inspection, early morning sunlight illuminating the room. I thought about the variety of prosthetic hands that I could have constructed.

But I knew there was only one real choice.

“I hope that Tinker Tom has a Gen-2 hand lying around” I say aloud, turning my head to look at Nick again. Adding with a smug grin, “Because now the best synth couple of the Commonwealth can match even more”, and he scoffs.

“Not that there’s any sort of competition for that category, anyhow” He jokes, rolling his eyes.

A knock at the door prevents me from making another quip, but I’m able to give a bright smile to Shaun as he enters the recovery room. Not trailing far behind, Deacon surprisingly stepped in as well, and there was a certain someone perched on his shoulders.

“When I raced back to Sanctuary to tell everyone the good news, a certain someone insisted on coming with me...” Deacon announces, Halley squealing as he reaches up to hoist her off. Shaun has already launched himself towards the bed to wrap his arms around me, and my granddaughter soon follows.

“Did you steal my hat?” I smile, seeing Shaun wearing the baseball cap that I purchased from Moe Cronin last fall. 

He gives me an outraged look. “Your hand’s gone and all you’re worried about is your hat?” He huffs, and I chuckle at his bluntness.  At least he doesn’t seem too shaken up by what happened.

“It’s fine, especially because you look so much like your father with it on” I reply warmly, a memory of Robert’s face superimposing onto Shaun’s expression of intrigue at the mention of him.

“I want a hat!” Halley interrupts, her excitement quite visible as she crawls across the bed towards Nick. Without even asking, she swipes it in the blink of an eye.

Setting it upon her head, it sinks down past her eyes. “Look at me, I’m the detective now!” She declares, and Nick’s briefly stunned face morphs into a radiant smile.

“Well, Nancy Drew, what’s the scoop on the mystery we’re aiming to solve?” He asks with a dramatic inflection, leaning in towards her. “Are we looking for a hidden staircase? A missing map?”.

Halley’s head instead tilts in confusion. The movement is made extremely comical given how her head is enveloped by the fedora.

“This little bookworm hasn’t read Nancy Drew yet?” Nick exclaims amusingly, and I grin at the opportunity to give her another literary fixation.

“Well, I HAVE been itching to scrounge through the public library ever since Daisy gave me that book she wanted me to return” I suggest, swinging my legs out of the bed despite my muscles screaming for rest.

Nick’s disapproving glare speaks volumes.

“I think you know what I’m going to say” He says under his breath, and I look at him with pleading eyes. “What if Deacon tags along?” I say, waving my left stump around. “It’s not like I still can’t defend myself if needed”.

An idea pops into my head. “Where’s Xander at? He needs some time to adjust from being with, ya know, for so long” I continue, and Deacon nods his head in approval. 

“Piper’s been forcing the poor man to help Nat pass out newspapers. Nobody can decline a newspaper to a face like his!” He chuckles, and I laugh at the thought myself.

“Alright, alright. But you’re still taking it easy, okay?” Nick grumbles, his yellow eyes taking on a narrowed appearance. 

After encouraging Halley to return his hat, I contemplate over my inability to braid the wavy hair cascading down her back.  _ It’s getting pretty long... I should take her for a haircut soon. _

I glance at Shaun, and his hair thankfully looks longer than from when I first saw him.  _ Let’s hope that he ages by his next birthday. _

“We’ll be back for dinner!” I call out, waving to the two children as we head towards the city’s exit. With Nat now by his side, Shaun leads Halley down towards the artificial lake.  Probably to socialize with the local kids.

Xander’s eyes burn into the back of my head with a silent question. I elect to ignore it as I turn around to face him. His Courser uniform had been swapped for a similarly colored leather jacket and cargo pants. The wide notch label was open, and it revealed a plain green shirt.

_ I’m surprised he isn’t burning up in that... but it’s probably similar in tolerability to his old uniform. _

“You ready to dig around in the old public library? Hopefully there aren’t too many Super Mutants” I say, offering the shotgun in my hand to him. He takes it wordlessly, his dark glasses revealing nothing, so I focus on directing our synth quartet towards the exit. 

Deacon thankfully disrupts the awkwardness that I had feared on our detour to Goodneighbor since he “knew the perfect guy for the job”.

“Hey, do you think you could make your left arm into a laser canon?” He asks, his mouth breaking into a smile as I playfully shove his face away with my hand.

“I thought a pirate hook would be more entertaining, since I could wear a matching peg leg” I respond, grinning as he readjusts his sunglasses. Nick scoffs behind us, and Xander remains expectedly tight-lipped.

It’s difficult to mask my surprise at the person Deacon walks out of The Third Rail with. The young man looked barely past his 21st birthday, and I felt a paternal urge to get him some food.

“This here kid’s name is MacCready, and he’s one of the best sharpshooters I know” Deacon says, his bicep wrapping around the boy’s shoulder in one swift motion.

“Hey, D, I’m not a kid. I’m a fu.. freaking grown man, okay?” He replies, squirming out from underneath Deacon’s arm, the way he stops himself from swearing making me chuckle.

“What’s so funny?” MacCready huffs, tilting his chin at me. His hat may add a few inches to his height, but we can’t change the fact that we’re still at eye level with another and I have easily 30 pounds on him.

I grin innocently. “Nothing. I just think you need to eat your vegetables if you want to grow big and strong” I reply, and Deacon lets out a hearty laugh.

The man scowls at my joke, his cheeks flushing red with embarrassment.

“Don’t mind my partner, pal. All his functioning brain power was stored in his left hand” Nick adds, and I shoot him a squinted glare.

MacCready finally seems to take notice of my absent hand. “What happened?” He asks, the shabby goatee on his jawline outlining his shocked expression.

“It fell off” I respond bluntly, delighting in the horrified expression that dawns on their face.

The iconic archways of the library, despite standing for more than four centuries, had negligible amounts of discoloration to the pink-tinged marble.

However, the statues of Science and Art were damaged from vandalism, with the globe and painter’s palette missing from their respective locations. The women were also coated in an even layer of patina where the bronze had oxidized.

A wave of memories came flooding back as we entered the building. Robert and I had spent countless long afternoons here, to get away from the bustle of campus, studying for exams under the soft glow of sunlight passing through the diamond-style windows.

And when I was finishing my master’s degree while he served in the Air Force overseas, I’d still study for my exams at our favorite table.

The pair of marble lion statues that guarded the staircases to the second floor of the library had remained virtually the same in the present as they had in the past. 

“Stay. Good kitty” Nick’s murmur from behind me makes me chuckle. My hand absentmindedly rubbed against one of their tails for good luck, the marble yellowed from the touch of countless hands centuries ago.  _ I hope we find something salvageable here. _

"Lion statues, huh? Great way to scare the kids” MacCready comments sarcastically. “I didn’t know you had a fear of cats, Mac” Deacon rebukes snidely, the mischief blanketing his tone.

My gaze lifted to the ruined murals on the walls as the two of them initiated a volley of childish insults. 

The oil-based depictions of eight muses of inspiration had long since been destroyed over the decades from water-damage and bullet fire. A melancholy mood settled over me as I thought about the countless other pieces of art lost because of the bombs.

Lost in my reverie, Deacon grabbed the collar of my shirt to stop me from walking straight into a dozing Super Mutant, but the resulting squeak of our shoes on the marble snapped the hulking brute’s eyes wide open.

“I’ll wear your guts around my-“ The guard roars, trying to push itself off the ground as the shot of a rifle booms from my right. The seven foot tall creature is immediately silenced as it sinks to the ground with a heavy slam, blood coating the ground from the bullet that had rocketed through it’s skull.

“Still think I’m just a little kid?” MacCready smirks as I turn to face him. “That depends on if you can ace this next test: helping us get rid of all these Super Mutants” I reply, hearing a wave of bloodthirsty roars of vengeance for their fallen brethren.

“Let’s get to work” Xander states suddenly, and I watch with raised eyebrows as he bounds over the body of the fallen titan with the grace of a gazelle.

The resonance of shotgun shells finding a target catalyzed the rest of us into action.

"All these books, and not even a single issue of Grognak?" MacCready whines from a dozen feet away as I carefully dig through the contents of a fallen bookcase.

Murmuring under my breath, “Grognak? Haven’t heard that name in years...”, I futilely wipe the grime off my hands as I give up on this section. The only fruit of my labor was a fairly damaged volume of  _ The Great Gatsby _ .

After removing it from my bag, Daisy’s worn copy of  _ The Picture of Dorian Gray _ slid into the nearby receptacle with a loud thunk. It spit out a token in return, and I made a mental note to someday pry open these machines like treasure chests as I shoved it into my pocket.

Gazing up, Xander had instinctively taken up a guard position by the entrance to Bates Hall. And out of the corner of my eye, I saw Deacon, Nick, and MacCready crouched at the several intact shelves in between the massive green bodies and decorative bags of gore that littered the room.

“Xander and I are gonna check downstairs for anything salvageable!” I announce, my voice magnified by the vaulted ceiling. Gesturing towards the rows at the back that hadn’t experienced a single glance, I joke, “You guys can have Bates all to yourselves, there’s plenty of reading material to sort”.

“We may have cleared out the Super Mutants, but there might be other dangers lurking in this old place” Nick warns, and I nod.

“That’s why I’m bringing Mr. Toughguy with me” I grin, grabbing Xander by the wrist when I begin leading him to the stairs. As soon as we’re out of sight of the others, however, he snatches it from my grasp. 

“That’s unnecessary” He comments, and I internally sigh at his prickliness.

Venturing deeper into the lobby of the main floor, we were faced with the same destruction that we had upstairs. Now I sigh aloud.  There aren’t as many books down here as there are upstairs but...

The help desk is situated a dozen feet in front of us, so I walk over to see if the terminal has any information on how the books are organized.

As I work on resetting the password, Xander surprises me by breaking the silence.

“Despite the centuries of deterioration, I can see that this building had once been an artistic marvel. I wish the Institute’s library had been nearly this grandiose” He professes, my fingers halting at the mention of his former home.

“I wasn’t surprised to learn that you had been the one to take the Director’s daughter” Xander states next, his words a statement of fact rather than an accusation.

“She wasn’t going to be raised by the same people who stole my son and had my husband murdered” I confirm, uneasily resuming my work on the terminal.

“I understand” He replies, and the uncomfortable tension creeps back in.

After failing to comprehend the digital lists of books on the screen in front of me too many times to count, my façade cracks.

“We had anticipated more survivors, seeing as I had activated the evacuation alarm... but we haven’t seen a soul, minus Elon of course” My guilt elaborates, not mentioning how Liam was currently buried in the cemetery behind the Old North Church.

“There was a contingency plan for emergencies, but there is no way of knowing how many civilians evacuated to the designated safe-house” He answers, and my head snaps upwards to look at him.

“Safe-house?” I mutter, a chill creeping down my spine as I think about the possibility for more Elon situations.

“Yes, there is an Institute-constructed bunker far outside the Commonwealth’s borders. You needn’t be concerned, however, for they shall remain in this shelter for the next 25 years according to protocol” Xander continues, and I repress the urge to sigh.

“There are only so many limbs that I can lose to someone’s bloodthirsty revenge, ya know?” I grin, trying to mask my relief. He smirks at my joke, and I shift my attention back to the computer.

With undivided focus, I’m able to pinpoint the location of... Wait a minute. I reread the words again and again: “ _ Archive Vault _ ”.

“What did you find?” Xander asks curiously, and I further investigate the file.

“There’s... there’s a sealed archive in the building, oh my god!” I murmur, my voice raising to a crescendo with excitement after I shut down the terminal.

I take off sprinting towards the referenced wall included on one of the documents, and a large recreation of the library’s seal faces me. Inspecting the oxidized brass, my fingers run across it’s embossed surface after stepping over the partition guarding it.

The book underneath the Latin motto feels different than the rest of the brass. Reminded of the Railroad’s puzzle, my hand pushes against it and I hear a noise as a mechanism is activated.

“Go get the others!” I yell behind me, not wasting a second as I hurry down the now exposed hidden staircase.

_ No one would have set foot in here since the day before the bombs. The library opens at 9, so the staff would have been on their way to work when it happened... _

Dozens of shelves line the room, and with each passing aisle I become more and more astounded.

“A collection of Walt Whitman’s personal effects... early editions of Shakespeare’s stories... film-reels from the 20th century!” I exclaim with wonder, and my heart launches into my throat when I spot a section labeled “ _ The Art of War _ ”.

Searching through the alphabetized aisle for names beginning with F, I can’t believe my eyes when I spot what I had been hoping for.

Pulling the box out, I gently cradle it on my lap after sitting upon the floor criss-cross. Displacing its lid with my good hand reveals dozens of plastic sleeves covering something indescribably precious: photographs that Robert took overseas during his deployment.

“Is everything alright?” Nick’s voice pierces through the sea of tears flooding down my cheeks.

I glance up to see him and the others staring down at me with concern. With a sniffle, I hand Deacon a shielded copy of Robert posing for the camera with his squad, and understanding dawns on his and Nick’s faces as they stare at it.

“This archive... they have copies of my husband’s work” I explain to the other two men, and MacCready’s face lights up with alarm. “How old... are you Pre-War?” He gasps, and I manage to laugh at his shock.

Deacon hands me back the photo, and I delicately place it among the others. To their surprise, I re-shelve the box.

“Do not tell anyone that these archives exist, you hear me?” I warn the trio in a low tone, and they all nod quickly in agreement. Even Nick’s face is awash with appeasement at my intensity.  _ It’s one of Robert’s few remaining legacies, and I will ensure that NOTHING happens to them. _

“I, uh, found some of the, um, books you were looking for” MacCready stammers nervously, handing over two volumes of  _ Nancy Drew _ and a copy of the  _ The Three Railway Engines _ .

The seriousness leaves my face in an instant. “Thank you, Mac!” I respond joyfully, giving him a hug, rendering him blushing and speechless.

When we retrace our steps back to the vault door, there’s two unexpected visitors waiting for us.

“Can’t say I’m surprised to find you in a dump like this, MacCready” One of the two men says, smoothing down his red mohawk with his fingers as he speaks.

“I was wondering how long it would take your bloodhounds to track me down, Winlock. You must be getting rusty, if it took you this long to find me” MacCready replies from beside me, a cocky smirk on his face despite how I can see his fingers fidgeting by his side.

Winlock’s face scrunches up into a sneer. “Listen up, jackass. We swung by Goodneighbor to tell you that the Gunners never want to see you operating on our territory again” He retorts.

“But since the little kid is so far away from the protection of the Neighborhood Watch, I don’t think the warning’s necessary anymore” The man continues, taking a step forward.

As soon as he does, the knife from my pocket becomes lodged in his throat in less than a second. The man named Barnes watches his comrade fall in bewilderment, and Xander holds nothing back as he points his shotgun for a well-aimed bullet spray to his chest.

“Who were they, Mac?” I ask of the younger man, who looks up at me with a mix of awe and fear. I hear Nick sigh behind me when I wipe Winlock’s blood off my knife onto his vest.

“They’re just some knuckleheads who’ve been looking for a way up the hierarchy” He answers, but all I can think about was how they were pretty keen on killing this kid.

“You helped me find photographs taken by my late husband. I’d be more than willing to get these guys off your back” I chuckle, and I see Xander give a look of intrigue as I seal shut the door of the archives.

“Well, you know where the Mass Pike Interchange is?”.

“I... I’m finally free of them. They’d been breathing down my neck for over a year now” MacCready breathes with relief, the carnage of the fight with a dozen Gunners now over, and I smile as I watch his shoulders relax.

With an appreciative smile, he adds, “I don’t have to worry about them going after Lucy or Duncan anymore”.

Now it’s my turn to be shocked. “You have a family?” I inquire with raised eyebrows, and he nods in response. Nick pipes up with, “You’d be surprised at how soon people start families around here”, a smile in his voice as he enjoys my reaction.

“They’re at a radchicken farm a decent ways south of the Glowing Sea” The sniper elaborates. I can’t help myself from asking questions like how he met his wife and how old their son was as our little group made their way back to Goodneighbor.

Before he made his way down into The Third Rail, I gave him an offer.

“What? Are.. are you for real?” He sputters, whipping around to face me. “Those houses aren’t getting any fuller” I joke, and his face softens for a few moments as he’s lost in thought.

“I’ll talk to Lucy about it, then I’ll let you know” MacCready confirms, and he makes his way into the old subway station.

We’ve barely walked a few feet before there’s the sound of Deacon clicking his tongue.

“Even though you’re still  handy with knives, I think you’ll want your new prosthesis sooner rather than later, hm?” He grins coyly, and I roll my eyes.

“Hey X-Man, wanna tag along for the trip to Railroad HQ?” He turns to face the much taller man, his face not carefully hiding that he has an ulterior motive to the proposal.

“...You’re not giving me a choice, are you?” Xander replies pointedly, and he only sighs as Deacon continues to stare expectantly at him. “Very well” The man concedes, and my synth brother is quick to lock their arms together.

“We’ll see you two in Diamond City!” Deacon grins, and then it’s just the two of us. My stomach growls as Nick and I enter Daisy’s shop to inform her of the book return.

She laughs and insists on serving me a home-cooked meal for the trouble, especially after demanding to hear the tale of how I’d lost “yet another limb”.

“Hey, do you know that person?” Nick mutters in my ear, the food on the plate in my hands being a worthy distraction, so I raise my head to see who he’s referring to. 

A Ghoul with bobbed brown hair stands at the entrance to the store, her expression dumbfounded, and the recognition sparks through my veins like I’ve been burned.  _ It can’t be... no fucking way! _

I unceremoniously abandon my Brahmin steak, narrowly avoiding letting it fall to the ground in my haste to stand, and deposit it on Nick’s open lap.

“Phoebe? Is that really you?” My voice nearly inaudible as my good hand sluggishly inquires. She remains frozen in place until I finally close the distance between us.

Her dark blue eyes were now the standard black, and there was a pool of tears threatening to spill from them. “I thought you were dead!” She replies, her hands shaking as she emphasizes the word ‘dead’. 

Wrapping my arms around her in a tight hug, she instantly reciprocates the gesture. The teardrops flowed freely down my cheeks as we stood there, and I feared that if I let her go, she would disappear like something from a dream.

Memories from a lifetime ago stole my breath away as I broke from our embrace, and I knew she was experiencing the exact same thing as we gazed into each other’s faces.

Her hand raises to caress the textured skin on my jawline where two-day-old stubble was growing in. “Odd” She says, her other hand creating the word in front of the teasing expression on her face.

“I could say the same about you” I reply, grinning as I gesture at her weathered appearance. We both laugh, and it feels like not even the passing of centuries had a chance of affecting our close bond.

“Am I missing something here?” Nick pipes up from behind me, and when I turn to look at him, I realize that the two of us hadn’t spoken a word for several minutes.

“This is my younger sister, Phoebe” I explain, my fingers forming the letters of her name. “She’s deaf”.

“Family reunions are always a beautiful sight for these sore eyes” Nick murmurs wistfully, before adding, “I didn’t know the two of you were related”.

“You know her?” I ask, almost too bewildered to sign what I said.

“When I’m in town every summer, I sometimes see Nick if he’s here following a case” Phoebe speaks, and her deaf accent sounded less noticeable under the gravel of her Ghoul-damaged vocal folds.

“Every summer? You’re not here all the time?” I ask, my body relaxing at the thought that I hadn’t just been narrowly missing my younger sister for the past several months.

“Yup, I travel south of the Commonwealth most of the year. Don’t want to let my teaching license go to waste” She replies, giving a chuckle. “Goodneighbor has the biggest Pre-War Ghoul community for miles though, so I always end up back here”.

“And for one other reason I hope” Someone says, and out of the corner of my eye, I watch as Hancock walks through the hole in the wall separating Daisy’s store from KL-E-0’s. “I must still be dreamin’, because summer can’t be here already”.

“It’s good to see you too, John” Phoebe comments, and my eyes nearly bulge out of my head when I see the namesign she uses for him. It’s an H that mimics the sign for  _handsome_.

“When you first walked into town, I knew there was a reason I liked ya: you’re related to one of the most dynamite gals in the Commonwealth” Hancock says to me with a grin, his gaze settling on my sister soon after.

The flirtatious aura between the two of them began getting uncomfortably palpable. I wave my hand between the two of them to interrupt their intense eye smolder communication. 

“Alright, I think y’all can save the greetings for later. Bee and I have some catching up to do” I interrupt, grabbing her arm to lead her outside.

Not knowing exactly where to go for privacy, I take us to where my life had ended and began. The barren shoreline of the irradiated Institute crater was the ideal setting for the impending conversation I was going to have with her.

“I’m going to start from the beginning, and I’m sorry if my handsmanship gets in the way” I state, peppering in a joke about my ability to sign being affected by the recent limb loss.

I tell her about the cryogenic Vault, how Robert had died and Shaun was stolen. The people that I met as I scoured the Commonwealth for clues about his whereabouts. Meeting Nick.

The cruelty of learning how my son’s upbringing was stolen from me, and the devastation of my body’s true condition.

She had asked plenty of questions throughout my recollection of the past seven months, but her face grew pensive and gazed towards the water when I revealed that I wasn’t the original Orion.

“You’re a continuation of him, you got to achieve what he never could: showing his true self to the world” She expresses after a few moments, the kindest of smiles on her face.

My arms draw her in for a hug, and I try not to cry again as I hold the handshape of “I love you” against her back.

“The original would have lost his hand and foot too, clumsy idiot” She adds with a whisper, and I laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, Good News was just going to be about Orion finding Phoebe, but while writing “Red Hot And Blue”, which would have just been the Pure Summer Fun (now reserved for next chapter), I kinda just went Wild and was like “hey let’s add the library... and MacCready.... OOH NOW PHOEBE”
> 
> I couldn’t decide about the survivors of the Institute, because acknowledging that there was a safehouse begs these two questions: why did X6 go with Elon? did Elon blackmail him and another Courser to come with? And with Liam, it wouldn’t make sense for him to have left the others to go to the Railroad and die by suicide. I can’t really retcon Liam’s death in this story now, but I would have chosen to keep him alive now if I had the chance. He does serve a good foil to Elon though- “you killed my father, now I will Do Something”.
> 
> I always make sure that the characters discuss the topic of Orion’s amputations very carefully, because he doesn’t NEED prosthetics to be complete. 
> 
> Me: looks up the specific material that the library is made of  
Also me: doesn’t bother to see if the entrance they go in would be accessible to the layout of the game
> 
> Whenever Xander isn’t speaking, he’s just Internally Screaming with confusion; he’s a man without structure and he’s grasping at fuckin straws trying to find some Order
> 
> Because ASL *was* my minor and I took classes between the ages of 14 and 20, it wasn’t too hard for me to write the signing interactions. I was actually structuring how it’d look in my head, and it was interesting to see how my dialogue was longer than how a lot of the conversations would actually be; my friend filiasyth on tumblr is the one who came up with Hancock’s namesign!
> 
> Speaking of Phoebe, she’s a teacher for the deaf/hard of hearing! She goes around finding deaf/hard of hearing kids and setting em up with a language basis, if they don’t have one yet, or coordinating ways for their nearby schools to be accessible to them!
> 
> Also, FUCK Lucy being dead, she’s alive in my fic


	6. A Place in the Sun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve had the last few chapters planned out for over a YEAR but haven’t gotten around to it, and now my writing style for this fic clashes so much with how I write now that it’s painful to do so lmao
> 
> BUT I WILL FINISH IT! THREE MORE CHAPTERS, Y’ALL

The memory of the partial lunar eclipse from nearly a week ago was stuck to the forefront of my mind like Wonderglue. As my mind swarmed with possible ideas for making a catalog of future astronomical events, I nearly ruined the sheet metal I was cutting.

“You’ve been at that for almost 10 minutes now... something weighing on your mind?” Nick’s voice perks up from behind me, and the tin snips release from my prosthesis’ grip in shock, clattering to the floor. I hadn’t quite gotten used to fine motor control with it just yet. “Are you just, incapable of announcing your presence like a normal person?” I mutter under my breath in exasperation, not expecting him back from his trip to Diamond City so soon, and he chuckles. 

“Us synths have a scare quota to maintain, ya know, don’t wanna lose my membership” He replies, and I can’t help my laughter as I bend over to scoop the cutting tool off the concrete floor of the garage. “Besides, I enjoy watching you work. Whether it be hacking into terminals or fixing up Power Armor for the Minutemen, there’s no machine you can’t charm” Nick adds, smirking.

“You know that my offer for repairs is always open” I remind him, remembering his grateful expression when I had handed him those Gen-2 maintenance manuals, but he waves me off. “I’ve survived this long without an overhaul, I can hold out a little while longer”. Before my tool can line up with the sheet metal again, Nick grabs my good hand. “Starlight, do you know how late it is right now?” He says, eyeing my Pip-Boy on a nearby stool.

“Please don’t tell me it’s only 2 in the morning” I reply teasingly, and he shakes his head. “No.. but it’s still after midnight. You were working on this project for Preston when I left a few days ago, and it’s not like you’ll finish it tonight” Nick says, flourishing his free hand towards the door while the other ensnares my prosthesis. “Just because your coding enables your insomnia habits doesn’t mean that I will” He adds, and I sigh in defeat.

After reluctantly returning my tools to their rightful home in the toolbox, we make our way inside the house. He insists on watching me crawl my way underneath the covers before Nick is satisfied enough to leave me be. “And you can’t climb through the windows like last time, I’ll be up doing some paperwork!” He calls behind him as he walks down the hallway towards the living room, and my face scrunches up with indignation before I eventually try drifting off to sleep.

The sound of birdsong startled me awake, and after peeling open my rheum-encrusted eyelids, I rubbed at the soreness in the muscles of my neck.  Probably from all that time in the garage . Dragging myself from the bed, I stumble to the bathroom to wash the shine of sweat from my face. Usually, there was the voices of animated conversation traveling throughout the house. Shaun would help Halley with her English homework at the kitchen table over breakfast, giving her suggestions of what to practice in her handwriting. It was almost Pre-War in its simplicity, if you discounted the fact that Shaun would encourage her to pen down the fictional adventures of the cat she had saved from a rabid mole rat. Lucifer would give a Raider hell if her fantastical exploits were reality.

After drying my face, I walked down towards the open living space and was given visual confirmation of its emptiness.  Where is everyone? When I stepped outside the front door, Sanctuary was a ghost town. There wasn’t a soul to be seen anywhere, and when I glanced up at the sky, it was past midday. Disregarding my late awakening, I tried not to let the sight of the barren neighborhood stoke my anxiety. Thankfully, someone was walking up the street just before I could start to genuinely panic. “Good afternoon. You slept for quite a while” Xander states smoothly as the distance between the two of them closed, but I couldn’t manage more than an exasperated smile.  It’s been a while since I’ve seen him, he’s usually on patrol with the Minutemen. _Normally, I’d catch up with him but..._

“Where is everyone?” I ask, but his expression reveals nothing beneath those dark aviators. In his hand was a sheet of paper, and he held it out for me with little fanfare. “I’ve been instructed to deliver this to you” He replies, and I accept the offered item. Pulling it closer to read the scrawled handwriting, I don’t quite know what to make of it. “The crimson spaceship signals the beginning of your journey...” I murmur aloud, my eyes squinting at the cryptic message. I open my mouth to ask, “What does this mean?” but when I look up, Xander is gone.  _Probably used a damn Stealth Boy._

I stop to ponder what the note could mean. _A crimson spaceship, huh? Does that imply..._

The realization hits me like a hammer to a nail. I run inside to grab my rifle, along with donning my Pip-Boy on one arm, and it doesn’t take too long to reach the nearby Red Rocket. The garage is begging for my attention with a blank sheet of paper taped to its rusted over door, contrasting well enough for me to see it from over a dozen feet away. However, it wasn’t legible until it was several inches from my face.

> Find your next clue where you chased after your first; a pink heart inside green walls

Nick’s handwriting brought a smile to my face, and I could tell where I needed to travel next in an instant. I guess I’m on a scavenger hunt or something? This doesn’t feel malicious. Maybe I’m still dreaming. That last thought made me chuckle, so I began at a decent pace towards Diamond City.

When I entered the agency about an hour later, it didn’t take me long to find what I was looking for on his desk. Usually, Nick’s workspace was cluttered with files and ashtrays full of extinguished cigarettes. The metal desk was practically spotless save for a single note.

> When the cereal killer that terrorized the Commonwealth died by your hands, the train was eagerly awaiting your arrival. All aboard, choo choo!

I laughed aloud at the writing. It was just like Deacon to pen something like that. My next destination was only a fifteen minute walk to the northeast, and I didn’t even have to step foot inside the Railroad headquarters

> Wyan, do you remember the drive-in that you and Robbie practically lived at? You should check it out, I hear it’s playing its first movie in over two centuries!

Phoebe’s old nickname for me nearly takes my breath away. It had felt like eons since I’d heard her call me that, and the memories it resurfaced brought a smile to my face. I glanced up at the setting sun, and embarked on a trek back through the city. The sun was barely above the horizon, twilight settling over the landscape as I made it closer and closer to the Starlight Drive-In.

As I stepped into the parking lot, I nearly jump out of my own skin from a chorus of yells. “Surprise!” Various people shouted, jumping up from their hidden locations inside the stationary cars and the concession stand. “What is all this?” I laugh, sliding my rifle into its sling across my back. In the closest vehicle, Halley and Shaun grinned from their position on the seats. “Dad, do you know what day it is?” My son asks, and I genuinely have no clue. “It’s your birthday!” Halley adds, and out of the corner of my eye, I watch as three figures walk over from the nearby building.

“Nick and Phoebe here said something about a ‘birthday cake’ being customary for such an occasion, ain’t that right?” Deacon comments, throwing a mischievous glance to his companions who were trailing behind him. The two of them were holding a rather large sheet cake, and I couldn’t believe they had made such a thing. “So those kitchen appliance repairs that I made throughout Diamond City and Goodneighbor the other month got put to some use, huh?” I muse, and Nick shoots me a smile. “The eggs were the hardest ingredient to find, if I’m being honest. Radchickens aren’t too common in the Commowealth” He replies, and Deacon stands up a little straighter.

“Yours truly had to pull some strings with a group of caravaners from the Capital Wasteland” The redhead grins, but there’s a sigh that halts any further gloating. “Can we get a light?” Phoebe rasps exasperatedly, surprising me with her voice.  _I guess she’s comfortable enough around everyone now. But she also has a giant cake in her hands, so signing is out of the question, huh?_ “Yeah, I got one in my pocket. Deacon, help a guy out, would ya?” Nick mentions, and my ‘brother’ fishes it out of my partner’s coat.

The singing of  _ Happy Birthday _ nearly brought tears to my eyes. Such a simple Pre-War tradition was made all the better when he was around so many people who knew his true self.

“Take your pick, birthday boy. Just for tonight, we brought a whole bunch of reels out from the archives” Deacon asks, gesturing to several different film rolls lying on the counter of the concession stand. “Hmm...” I murmur, my attention divided between the labels and the sight of Halley’s frosting covered mouth.

I decide upon a copy of the Disney film,  _ Cinderella _ . They were a century before my time, seeing as how the company eventually went bankrupt sometime in the 1970’s, but their animated films were still endearing cultural monuments. The kids would like it too.

“I thought you were only 238 years old, not over 300 ” Nick quipped, and I slapped his arm. “We can’t exactly watch  Night of the Fish Man’s Revenge with a five year old present, jackass” I counter, and his shocked expression at my choice in language makes Deacon bark with laughter.

With the cake finished, everyone settled down in various dilapidated cars for the viewing. Phoebe and Deacon took up watching over the kids so that I could spend some quality time with Nick. 

“I’ll admit that I never did see this. My memories are a tad hazy, but I think I preferred being nose-deep in a good book” He comments as the movie begins, and I smile. “I can see that. But we’ve got all the time in the world to binge through the archives, so I hope you’re ready for spending quite a few evenings here” I chuckle, and he smiles. “Sounds like heaven to me” Nick responds, entwining our mangled hands together.


	7. It’s a Wonderful Life

The months leading up to the anniversary of my departure from the Vault passed by with incredible speed. I lived out my dream of becoming the Silver Shroud with the help of a fellow fan in Goodneighbor, was sought out by DiMA for some dire engineering work following the massive explosion in the synth population of Acadia, and Deacon even put on a play production with the assistance of fellow Railroad agents. That particular event was the talk of the Commonwealth for weeks.

When that late November day finally arrived, it was almost anticlimactic in its normalcy. There wasn’t much I wanted to do in remembrance of it, despite Deacon’s insistence of a party, so I spent it hiding in the garage working on a project. That is, until someone came running in with something unexpected.

“RiRi, RiRi! Look at what I found!” Halley squealed, and after lifting my welding mask, I saw that she was holding a football-sized object above her head. “What is it...?” I question warily, noting how much the off-white coloring reminded me of an egg. But an egg from what?

“It’s a Deathclaw egg!” She responds eagerly, and I thought my eyes were going to bulge from my head. My granddaughter didn’t seem to notice this reaction, however. She began prattling on about how “the nest seemed abandoned” when “Grunkle D” found it just up the creek, and I shivered at the thought of such creatures being so nearby. After his disposal of the one in Concord, he hadn’t seen one since. “Can we keep it? It won’t survive without a parent... I promise to take good care of it!” Halley begs, her different colored eyes nonetheless identical in their pleading look.

I couldn’t say no. “If you can’t somehow domesticate it... we’re giving it up, alright?” I concede, and she cheers. Now I had to pivot from my current project to making an incubator for the egg.  _ Where are we even going to put this? _

No one knew how long it would take to hatch, or if it ever would. Deathclaws weren’t exactly perfect subjects for studying, so their much of their behavior and biology was a mystery. Halley rose to that challenge though, with her constant note-taking in a journal that Nick procured from who knows where. He always seemed to have an endless supply of notebooks.

When the first snow of the winter arrived, I was surveying the integrity of the roofs in the neighborhood when my granddaughter come barreling down the street towards me. “The egg! It’s... it’s... Hurry!” Her screams startling me, as I expected her to be discussing the current precipitation. It had started overnight, and several inches were already coating the ground. Nick shot me a look from his position at the bottom of the ladder, and he held it steady as I stepped off the roof towards the ground. We were soon following the afterimages of the blazing comet of a girl as her silhouette disappeared inside the garage. “Do you have your pistol?” I murmur, and he nods.

But that precaution seemed to be unneeded when they stepped inside to a quite harmless sight. Halley was throwing chunks of formerly-frozen mole rat meat onto the floor in front of a slimy Deathclaw hatchling. Its scales were a ghostly white with tinges of gray, the amniotic fluids it was covered in glistening under the fluorescent lighting, and the signature horns of its species were mere nubs. It turned to face us, a morsel halfway into its short snout, before skittering behind Halley’s shoes to scarf down the rest of the food.

“Is it... friendly?” I ask, unable to suppress the nervous twitching of my prosthesis as I watch her squat down to hold out a piece of meat on her palm. To my relief, it doesn’t bite her when a thin tongue drags the chunk of fat into a mouth of needle-sharp teeth. She giggles at the sensation, before repeating the action. “Yeah! I think Daisy’s.. I think they’ve imprinted on me!” Halley finally responds after several instances of successful hand-feeding.

“Daisy, huh? You sure named the little thing awfully fast” Nick comments, his voice affectionate rather than condescending. “Well... they just seem like a Daisy” She counters, giving a shrug. It did indeed suit an albino Deathclaw. At the mention of its name, it let out a shrill noise that sounded much like the whimper of a puppy. Before I could protest, Halley scooped up the critter to cradle in her arms. It didn’t seem to mind the sudden movement, closing its eyes with presumed contentment.

After placing it inside the heated enclosure, I insisted on her taking some time off from watching her newest pet. “Daisy’ll be fine, babies don’t do much right after they’re born” I insist, reminiscing on the weeks after Shaun’s birth. After alerting the synth version of him to the gradually accumulating snowfall, seeing as to how he’d slept in, I grabbed what I had been working on the past few nights.

“What is it?” He asked, staring at the sculpted aluminum object in his hands with much confusion. I share a knowing smile with Nick. “It’s a sled, for going down hills in snow” I elaborate, and it’s Halley who understands. “I wanna go sledding!” She exclaims excitedly, and I assure her that that was exactly the plan as I lead the four of us to the slopes behind Sanctuary.

The fireplace radiated with the comforting glow of natural gas, and the ambiance of the room was welcomed after a day of playing in the snow. If I strained my ears, I could vaguely hear water droplets hitting the bathroom floor from all the soaked clothing that I had hung to dry. Nick was curled up next to me on the couch, his internal motor generating a decent amount of heat as well as the shots of whiskey that I was metabolizing.

His fingers traced the curves of my arm as we sat there quietly, just enjoying each others’ company. The sound of footsteps preceded the appearance of Shaun, who I whipped my head around to regard with drunken fondness before realizing that something was wrong. He had tears in his eyes. “Are you okay...? C’mere” I ask, trying my best to wrangle my tongue from the alcohol’s motor-depressant effects. He obliges my request, and Nick moves aside to let the boy situate himself between the two of us. 

Not wanting to force him to speak, I settled on wrapping my arms around him and pulling him into a hug. It took him a while before he finally spoke up. “I... I had a nightmare. That something bad had happened to you” He mumbles into my chest, and my heart sinks at this admission. “Hey.. nothing bad’ll happen to me, I promise. I’m indestructible” I murmur, using my prosthetic hand to trail down his back comfortingly.

There’s a sniffle, and I rake my fuzzy memories for something at what it reminds me of. Clearing my throat, I hope the whiskey doesn’t ruin what I’m about to do. “ _ Baby mine, don’t you cry. Baby mine, dry your eyes _ ” I croon, putting a lot of mental energy into singing than one would normally.“ _ Rest your head close to my heart, never to part, baby of mine _ ”. I hadn’t heard the song since I was Shaun’s age.

It seemed to catch his attention, thankfully, as I stopped hearing that sniffling the longer I sang. But those were the only verses I remembered, so I hummed the melody instead. I even slightly rocked the two of us from side to side. It took me back to when Shaun was just an infant. The action felt right.

I don’t know how much time passed before I felt a gentle shake of my shoulder. I turned my head, abruptly stopping my humming, and Nick wore a gentle smile. “The kid’s asleep” He whispers, and I realized he was right. “Want me to get him back to bed?” Nick asks, and I shake my head stubbornly.

“I’m buzzed, not wasted. I can do it” I remark, waving him off as I secure Shaun in my arms. After walking down to his room to deposit him in his bed and tuck him in, I saunter back down the hall. With no grace whatsoever, I collide into Nick’s personal space as I sit down. “Not wasted at all, hm?” He mumbles, his hand teasing through my hair as his words ripple through my brain. 

I scoff. “Hey.. you got to listen to me sing again, I don’t think you’re allowed to make fun of me” I counter, and he smiles. “You’re right, that voice of yours could put an angel to shame” Nick comments, and we melt into the comfortable ambiance once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two more chapters babeyyyyyyyy and they’ll be in third person so they will be Well Written


	8. Our Hospitality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote an outline for this chapter LAST OCTOBER

“Rye? Shaun?” Robert calls out, pulling open the door into the garage. He’s met with the ghastly appearances of his husband and son, hunched over a workbench and gazing at him with matching piercing blue eyes. The way they had frozen in place was like finding two raccoons digging through your garbage.

“Did... did you two stay up all night  again ?” He asks incredulously, and the two sleep-deprived men exchange a sidelong glance. “Father and I were.. carried away with another experiment, it seems” Shaun utters, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. It still felt strange hearing him call Orion that, or himself being called ‘Dad’.

“Why am I not surprised? Well, never mind that, because we got a letter in the mail from... a certain someone” Robert continues, holding up a folded sheet of paper. His husband stares curiously. “Let me see” He asks, walking up with a hand reached out. The blonde holds it high above their head, and Orion pouts at this before managing to snag the letter with a well-timed grab. He didn’t know who to expect something in the mail from, but it was certainly not from  _her_.

“Tomorrow night, huh?” He murmurs, and Robert nods despite the man’s attention fixating elsewhere. “What is it?” Shaun asks, and Orion shifts his head. “It’s... it’s a dinner invitation from Jennifer Valentine” They elaborate, and his son doesn’t seem to understand. “I guess they got married after all” He adds, a small smile dawning on his face.

Snowflakes dusted the windshield before being cleaned off in one swift motion of the wipers, and the car halted in its new position of a restaurant’s parking lot. The radio cut out as Robert removed the key from the ignition, and the two of them began walking across the parking lot. The Valentine’s had made reservations at a popular Italian restaurant, but Orion’s mind was far from the subject of food.

“I can’t stop wondering what he looks like—” Orion muses aloud as the hostess leads them through a labyrinth of tables in the open-concept floor plan, but Robert bursts into a fit of giggling. It wasn’t noticeably audible over the sound of clinking silverware on ceramic plates or deep conversation, but a few heads close to their route did turn to glance at the blonde holding a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter.

“What? Why are you laughing, Robbie?” Orion whispers harshly over his shoulder, and the reply is swifter than he expected. “I.. I saw him!” His husband murmurs in his ear, the uncontrollable amusement enveloping his voice with a breathy quality. “What?” Orion mutters in response, but before he can ask for a clarification, he understands. 

Only a dozen feet away, another hostess was taking a man’s snow-dusted trenchcoat and hat to hang upon a nearby rack. “Oh my god, it’s him” Orion states incredulously, the trio almost within range, and Robert’s laughter comes back with a vengeance. There was no stopping it, and now there was more staring from strangers.

“Robbie! Quit it!” He hisses, not quite able to hide the smile growing on his own face. It was pretty damn funny, Orion had to admit. The human Nick Valentine’s clothing resembled those of his synthetic counterpart to an uncanny degree. Their dinner guests were just about be seated before spotting the duo heading their way.

“Oh, I’m so glad you two could make it!” Jenny exclaims, holding open her arms in invitation. Robert accepts the hug without hesitation, while the two of them exchange pleasantries, Nick holds out an awkward hand. “It’s, uh, nice to finally meet you” The man states awkwardly, their eyes looking anywhere but at Orion. The strangeness was a mutual feeling, so he didn’t mind it. “Yeah” He replies, reciprocating the gesture.

When the four of them took their seats, Orion finally managed to get a closer look at the Valentines. Jenny had a short bob hairstyle, and her hazel eyes paired well with the bright glow of Nick’s silver. He watched as they rubbed a nervous hand against where the hairline of his lightly-tousled brown hair met his neck. 

Orion found himself unconsciously mimicking the motion as he gazed upon the immaculate dress-shirt and suspenders clinging to broad shoulders. This was someone he had never before, but who nonetheless felt oddly familiar. The strange circumstances of their counterparts were largely to do with the nervousness in his gut, surely? All because of an accidental tangle in some red thread? Nothing else?

“Honey?” Robert murmurs beside him, and he cringes out from underneath his thoughts with a sadly noticeable flinch when he realizes he had been staring a little too intensely at Nick. At least the former detective seemed to be feeling the same way, with the way they ducked their eyes when Orion shot another glance across the table. 

His husband let loose a chuckle. “Is a certain somebody starstruck?” The blonde jeers, and Orion’s face flushes red. Before he could say anything, a laugh spilled from Jenny’s lips. “Wow, your first fan! Maybe you oughta autograph his napkin, Nickie” She adds, sending an amused glance to her companion whose cheeks turned the same color as Orion’s.

“Yes! Darling, do you have a pen?” Robert laughs encouragingly, turning to the embarrassed auburn-haired man sitting next to him. Orion sends him a ice-filled look that could have stopped a Deathclaw in its tracks, earning another chuckle from Jenny and only further emboldening his husband’s teasing. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, sweetie! They always say never to meet your heroes, but I think this experience is an exception, wouldn’t you say?” He states in a cloyingly-sweet tone, his voice absolutely dripping with the lighthearted mockery.

“If you two are going to make fun of us the entire time...” Nick grumbles lowly, his eyes squinting, but this causes a round of laughter from Robert and Jenny. “Okay, okay, fine. It’s not our fault you two are so awkward” She concedes, giving a large grin. “Well, how else are we supposed to act?” Orion mutters, but the brunette shrugs with an exasperated look on her face and a shake of her head.

“Maybe we oughta properly introduce ourselves? In typical Pre-War fashion?” Robert suggests, and Orion wanted to sigh with relief at the change in topic. His husband wasn’t that cruel.

“Well, I don’t think there’s much I could say about myself. ‘Journalist who fell in love with her college sweetheart is murdered weeks before wedding by fiancé’s mob enemy’ is pretty self-explanatory” Jenny comments, and Robert shoots her a look. “How about this headline? ‘Photographer and veteran who was shot in cold blood by mercenary for protecting his infant son’ kinda says it all” Robert counters, smiling despite the morbid joking about their untimely deaths.

“Gosh, could you two kids lighten it up?” Nick asks, though the glint in his eyes suggest that he isn’t too surprised by the topic. Jenny seemed like a perfect match to Robert’s wit. “Yeah, maybe with a big pink neon sign?” Orion adds, and he smiled at the laughs that statement earned from the duo. When he gazed over at Nick, he saw m an exasperated smile.

Orion’s grin deepened and a sense of comfort washed over him as the four of them continued on with this niche banter that nobody around them could ever begin to understand. But that sort of self-imposed social isolation was normal for him, given his identity, so it felt like having friends over in his own home. Warm and comforting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the concept of Jenny & Robert acting like absolute jackasses about Orion & Nick’s counterparts being together, just making fun of them SO much for it
> 
> my Nick is based of Alain Delon, a suave French actor from the 60’s/70’s
> 
> one more chapter then I can work on my HLVRAI fanfics lol


	9. One Exciting Adventure

“Daisy’s come a long way from being that runt of the clutch, isn’t that right, Halley?” Orion states, glancing over at his teenage granddaughter with the head of a Deathclaw in her lap. The reptile was definitely short for her species, with most easily reaching over nine feet. 

However, Daisy’s stunted growth worked in her favor. The past decade of slow-maturation had made their presence more digestible to the denizens of the Commonwealth, as no one had ever seen a Deathclaw wearing a luminescent leather collar before.

At the mentioning of her name, she shifted into a more comfortable sleeping position on the courtyard’s grass. The sound of coughing didn’t stir her, but it caught Orion’s attention. A night breeze had coaxed smoke from the campfire into a nearby Minuteman’s face, and he watched them move their plastic lawn-chair over to avoid another hacking fit.

“You.. you never did clarify what happened to the rest of the Institute” Danse mentions, and thankfully, this was a question he had expected after recanting his earlier escapades to the small group of synths-turned-Minutemen, though he assumed Halley would have asked first.

“Well, about that...Xander mentioned there was a sort of secondary location in The Berkshires. A meet-up spot for if something happened” Orion admits, glancing over at the aforementioned man currently standing guard on a nearby watchtower of the Castle. “I planned on going to check it out sometime soon, but...” He continues, and Danse quirks his eyebrows.

He sighs. “What if they’re all dead?” Orion voices aloud, daring to stare over at Halley. She merely shrugged though. “I don’t remember much of them, RiRi. I mainly have memories of my aunts and of you, but that’s it” The teenager answers, and that removes some of the guilt burdening him. The Institute’s destruction had been well warranted, but he still didn’t like the thought of unnecessary deaths.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gonna edit in the rest tomorrow!


End file.
